Confession For Two: A Spammer Spills it All

defender writes "Rejo Zenger, well known Dutch anti-spam activist, recently had a very frank talk with a (now retired) spammer. He got information as to how and why S. Pammer started, where and why he was kicked out, who helped him get his bulletproof hosting, his open proxy mailings etc. It gives a nice and concise view of what the costs for a smalltime spammer are. About 200 Euros for the hosting and ability to spam at least half a million addresses (in a months time). That's for a turnover of 6 times and a net profit of well over twice those initial spam-related costs. Complete with screenshots, of course."

Comments

Re:Green Economics and the Net

[Fnkmaster]

False dichotomy. I want a mail protocol where the sender's identity/From address/server IP address are verified. This definitely isn't impossible, and doesn't require every packet to be tracked or monitored by any central authority. I don't need the government to track every web site I visit or keep that data. Verifiable identities (which would allow for accountability, legal enforceability of existing SPAM legislation, and at least a 95% reduction in spam) shouldn't require giving up all rights to privacy on the Internet.

Also, nobody trusts the UN because outside of the security council, it's just become a vehicle for US-bashing, and synonymous with ineffectual military pseudo-actions.

I am not saying Microsoft's approach is reasonable - nobody trusts Microsoft either. But there's no reason that registered email server must necessarily lead to a fragmented internet, it just means that there always has to be some chain of accountability for every email sent out.

Re:Green Economics and the Net

[JuggleGeek]

I'm not a spammer. I just know some well enough to be an aplogist for those particular ones.

I believe you are a spammer. You sure sound like one. Even if you are telling the truth, the fact that you defend spammers for doing what they do means that you are a slimeball, just like them.