(1) Possess, use, make, develop, assemble, sell, distribute, lease, license, transfer, import into this state or offer, promote, or advertise any unlawful communication device:
(A) For the unauthorized acquisition or theft of any communication service or to receive, intercept, disrupt, transmit, re-transmit, decrypt, acquire, or facilitate the receipt, interception, disruption, transmission, re-transmission, decryption, or acquisition of any communication service without the express consent or express authorization of the communication service provider; or
(B) To conceal, or to assist another to conceal, from any communication service provider or from any lawful authority the existence or place of origin or destination of any communication.
As written, it sounds to me like (A) would make it illegal for me to set up a wireless access point (which "facilitates the.. re-transmission" of a communication service) without getting permission from Time Warner. [The lobbyists also played the kiddie porn and terrorism cards with regards to open wireless APs.] Previously, doing this would have only been a violation of the AUP, and they could have cut off my service. If this bill goes through, they'll be able to prosecute me.
(B) sounds an awful lot like it would be illegal for me to spoof an email header, browse the web through a proxy server, or perhaps even use Freenet.
Note that the language of this bill specifies a "device," but does not require that the device must be hardware. "Device" is defined later in the bill as "any type of electronic mechanism, transmission lines or connections and appurtenances thereto, instrument, drive, machine, equipment, technology, or software." Freenet is, by its very nature, a "device" which attempts to "conceal the place of origin or destination of [a] communication."
The major problem with this bill is that the language is too broad - apparently by design:
When one senator asked if the law would have to be constantly updated to allow for new technology, he said "No, the statute is broad. We won't be back." (From
here)
The bill allows for felony charges for violations, and allows for $1,500 - $10,000 fines per device. The bill stipulates that counts and fines shall be imposed per day, that is, if you use 2 unauthorized "communications devices" for a week, you're guilty of 14 violations of this bill (well beyond the qualification for a felony charge) and you're liable for anywhere from $21,000 to $140,000 in fines.
This bill needs to die, or to have its language strictly clarified. If neither of these things happen, don't be surprised when you see "TN Resident Gets 15 Year Sentence for Open WAP" in the YRO section.
I visited Tauzin's official House of Representatives website, at http://www.house.gov/tauzin/. At the bottom is a Search button, with a select list to choose how many search results you want to receive. I decided to search for "MPAA" and see if he'd mentioned them in any of his recent press releases.
Unfortunately, I didn't get any results. Not because he's trying to hide anything, but because there's nowhere to enter a search term! The "Search" button is sitting there with no way to enter what you're searching for. Brilliant, if only Google had come up with this idea!
Thank you, Rep. Tauzin, for demonstrating your vast knowledge of the digital world. You should fit right in at the MPAA.
His funding bias has shifted from TV//Movies/Music in 2000 far in favour to utilities/health/pharma (in 2002 also)... which is interesting.
His funding might not show it, but he's definitely cozy with the media types.
Tauzin proposed a bill requiring all TV broadcasters to switch to 100% digital signals with copy protection, just over a year ago.
In July 2002, Billy and his friend Fritz Disney Hollings urged the FCC commissioner to "mandate the implementation of the Broadcast Flag under FCC rules" - which according to a story here just days ago is pretty much a done deal.
The financial support (on the books) may have quit in 2000, but he's still been busy trying to get digital TV, broadcast flags, and copy protection forced down consumers'^W our throats. Looks like the MPAA is finally rewarding him for his efforts...
If you're not familiar with Tauzin, just check out his topcontributors. Which industry gave more to his 2000 campaign than any other? "TV/Movies/Music." Your hopes are dashed, I'm afraid.
BTW, is it just me or does every story submitted by "The Importance of" wind up on the front page:)
But what about all those computers that came with AOL pre-installed?
New AOL users must agree to the Terms of Service as part of the account creation process. So while they may not have agreed to a EULA during installation (which they didn't perform), they do agree before they can get online.
I'm not sure why, but a couple of links were removed from the edited post.
Weird, I can't imagine why 5 of the 11 links and 30 of the 160 words in your submission were edited out. I mean, we love to read full articles around here, so we might as well get them in the story text! It's not like the average Slashdot story has 3 or 4 links and 60-90 words, or anything. It doesn't make any sense that you were discriminated against in this manner.
Oh well, I'm about to submit a story called "Geeks for Dummies" and paste the entire contents of the "Hackers" screenplay into the description field. I'm sure it will be accepted due to its substantial content. Maybe you'll get first post when it shows up on the front page!
but OH NO fast food has NOTHING to do with it, right ?
Nobody's saying that fast food has nothing to do with it.
If I get a Bacon Double Whopper with king-sized fries for lunch every day, I KNOW I'm going to get fat. It's not Burger King's fault, for god's sake. If I go to the bar and order 5 shots of tequila, I KNOW I'm going to get drunk. When I miss work the following day from being hung over, should the bar be held liable?
Fast food isn't healthy. I knew this when I was, like, 10 years old. How is it that some guy in his 30's just wakes up one day after a lifetime of Big Macs and decides "gee, it must be that evil McDonalds conspiracy to make me gain weight..." Fast food restaurants are in business to do one thing, and that's sell food. If you come inside with money, they're going to give you some food in return. How is this wrong?
I guess I must have missed the fraudulent ad campaigns that White Castle put out about "eat our burgers 3 times a day and you'll look like Kate Moss." [Subway and Jared are getting borderline here, but it's supposedly a true story, and I imagine they'd have been whacked by the FTC if it weren't. I also imagine that Jared did a shitload of exercising that they neglect to mention in their commercials. Whatever; the guy didn't sue Subway.]
People need to take some fucking responsibility for their own actions and their own meals.
Re:Evil is in the watchers, not the watching
on
Watching You
·
· Score: 2
In a world of total surveillence, the watchers are themselves watched.
By themselves, of course!
Video tape or data records of police/official misconduct ensure that abuse is not tolerated.
And when the police capture video of a fellow policeman beating the living shit out of someone, do you really think they're going to blow the whistle? Of course not. It takes a civilian to do that, but civilians don't have the luxury of being able to mount all-seeing eyes at every intersection. We mere mortals can only catch such abuse on film if we happen to be in the right place at the right time with our camcorders ready to shoot.
The more data channels and more oversight that everyone has on everyone, the less the opportunity for abuse.
I don't agree. I'd like to, in principle, but I simply can't because I know how this sort of thing works. In reality, the more oversight that everyone has on everyone, the more paranoid everyone becomes of everyone.
In Washington, D.C., Capitol police set up a network of cameras which can zoom in on someone more than half a mile away. And they did this without the knowledge of even our own senators and representatives. Did you hear about it on the news? Neither did I.
Until or unless the public is able to install surveillance cameras of the type and ubiquitousness that the government can afford, there will be no equality, there will be no oversight "of everyone, by everyone." There will be only surveillance "of the people, by the government." And government officials have a shady reputation of protecting themselves at the expense of others.
</tinfoil>
A related and interesting article
on
Watching You
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
MSNBC is currently running an article titled "Smile, You're Being Watched." It details the gradual growth of CCTV in the UK, and hits on the point that while the cameras made Britons feel safe 10 years ago, they're now seen as invasive and people are even going so far as to pipe-bomb them. The article ends with a choice quote:
Americans who are being asked to exchange privacy for the promise of security might want to look at Britain. In democratic nations, the balance between liberty and security is a delicate one. American officials would be wise to take note of the wave of indignation sweeping across Britain -- or they could soon face a backlash of their own.
The source of the article is BusinessWeek and it's on MSNBC. The first time in my recollection that one - much less two - "mainstream" news sources have brought this issue to light without either politicizing it to death or painting a rosy picture of how increased surveillance will save us all from the evildoers.
Earlier today, the article was at the bottom of MSNBC's "Readers' Choice" list. Now it's scrolled off. Alas I suppose that many Americans just don't care about Big Brother...
Someone will sue them for the "click.." copyright or something.
Unlikely, seeing as how Apple licensed the "One-click" patent from Amazon three years ago. They were the first company to do so. Makes you wonder if perhaps they were already planning iTunes way back then...
You can only buy music if you live in the US and have an american creditcard. Sucks. Any word on when they'll let the world buy too?
Whenever the record labels and their subsidiaries and associates licence Apple to distribute the music outside of the US.
If you're wondering why this process might take awhile, the following tidbit might interest you. I have a poster hanging on my wall promoting Skinlab's CD "Disembody: The New Flesh." This album was released on a label called Century Media. At the bottom of the poster is the following, in fine print:
"Distribution: SPV in Germany; Caroline Distribution in the U.S.; Suburban in Benelux; House of Kicks in Sweden; Plastic Head in UK; Media 7 in France; NSM Records in Austria; Phonag Records in Switzerland; Self Distribution in Italy; Mastertrax in Spain; MVM in Portugal; MMP in Poland; Globus in Czech Republic; Music Dome in Hungary; Megatherion in Greece; Voices of Wonder in Norway; Spinefarm in Finland; NordicMetal in Denmark; NEMS Enterprises in Argentina; St. Clair in Canada; M.D.M.A. in Israel; Shock in Australia; Rock Brigade in Brazil."
The distributors above most likely have exclusive agreements for their respective markets. Meaning that if Apple wanted to sell tracks from this CD to Canadians, for example, it would first have to get permission from the label (Century Media), and it would then have to contact St. Clair, the Canadian distributor. Even if both of them agreed to let Apple in on the game, the contract between Century and St. Clair would need to be renegotiated, and new contracts drawn up between Apple and both companies.
And all this work only covers the 10 tracks from this album, as it's quite possible that Skinlab's other efforts are distributed through entirely different companies. Not to mention thousands of albums from hundreds of other artists. After all, it's doubtful that Apple would launch a Canadian version of ITMS without having a substantial number of songs available.
My condolences, but I don't think ITMS will be available in (m)any other countries for quite awhile. I agree, sucks... But don't blame Apple.
Um, what is a "triple-stage anti-overshooting system"? To keep elevators from going past target floors?
All I want to know is, if spires are fair game, then does "the triple-stage anti-overshooting system failed, and the elevators shot through the roof and went 100 yards straight up" count towards the height of the building?
Don't cluefull people generally do a phased introduction of new software, i.e. run in the lab for a couple weeks, then install it on a few servers to see how it works before putting the entire state on the new system?
Not when the break room is stocked with free Grey Goose in the freezer instead of free Mountain Dew in the fridge...
..Haley Barbour or the other guy? I live in Memphis and we've been bombarded with the (rather dirty, I think) ad campaigns for the MS gubernatorial race. Happy to see MS get a mention on Slashdot, but sort of curious about the politics down there.
Y'all have one thing going for you, at least - the casinos! We've just finally gotten around to approving a state lottery, and it's supposed to be up and running in Q1 04. Maybe a bit more of TN money will stay in TN, but I hope not to the detriment of MS.
Dynamics were impressive, imaging was nuanced and detailed, and the frequency extremes sounded extended and natural
By sheer coincidence, this is also what Darl McBride chants to himself when he wakes up, to convince himself that yesterday's press release was coherent...
My firewall/dns/mail/local dev box is a p75, with 40 megs of ram and a whopping 1GB HD. It's one of the original IBM "Aptiva" models, and could barely run Win95 (it came with 3.11). Now it runs FreeBSD and couldn't be better suited to its purpose, though I have to admit I don't compile anything on it, everything - kernel included - gets compiled elsewhere and installed over NFS.
FreeBSD isn't dying, but it does run on geriatric hardware!
The teacher's solution: give her a really high grade and have her read her paper aloud in class as an example of an outstanding paper.
As she read the paper it became obvious to everyone in the class what she had done and she immediately approached the teacher and apologized, rewrote the paper, and explained the whole thing to the class at the next meeting. That class never had a problem with cheating again as far as I know.
I say boo.
I think public embarassment is totally inappropriate in a high school or college environment. The student in question may well have learned her lesson, but did she go home that night and cry herself to sleep? Was she emotionally or physically uncomfortable for the rest of the class sessions that semester? Did the instructor care one way or another?
Humiliation is never a positive catalyst for change, and IMO this becomes more true with age. If you're 5 years old and accidentally piss yourself in front of your kindergarten class, it's no big deal, because you're 5 and you don't really know what the hell's going on anyway. If you're 15 and a high school sophomore, or 18 and a college freshman, you're not only trying to do well in your education, you're trying to build a social network. You're trying to hook up with or impress or at the very least get along with the cute [girls|guys] in your class.
Public embarassment is enemy #1 as you mature, and is a much stiffer penalty than it was back when you were 5. Your kindergarten classmates will never remember that you wet yourself on the see-saw. But every last hottie in 11th grade will remember that you were the Cliff-note copying moron that the teacher made a big joke about. Forever.
Several anecdotes posted here so far have suggested outing the cheaters in front of the class, to "embarass" them into conformity. I disagree with this tactic. In a college environment, the instructor's students are adults. Treat them as such - even if they aren't acting as such - and, chances are, they'll reciprocate.
Ever see Dangerous Minds? It's not just Michelle Pfeiffer playing some bullshit role. It's the way things work. You treat kids with respect, you get respect back. My mom's been in public education for more than 30 years. Trust me, I've heard more than my share of war stories to convince me that the teachers who cultivate a successful classroom environment are those who treat their students as their peers, not as their subordinates.
Teachers, and especially college instructors, don't humiliate your students in order to change their behavior, as they're only going to lose in the end. Show them that you know what they're up to, but don't embarass them in front of their peers. Show them that they aren't invincible and that no matter how careful they think they might be, they can still get caught. Show them how to deal with transgressions in a discreet manner. Regardless of what you're teaching, these are some of the most important lessons in life.
Thanks to everyone out there who's in education, overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. Keep up the good fight. You only get one chance to make a difference. Make sure it's the right difference.
Looks like most responses so far aren't addressing the real question - what you use to seek and destroy - and instead are mentioning what they use to avoid spam in the first place. All well and good, but since there aren't many answers to the question at hand, I might as well post mine.
I generally stick with the basics, whois and traceroute getting the most use. I rarely whois the spamvertised domain itself, unless I'm trying to determine the registrar or its DNS provider... But whois gets a lot of masked use, thanks to the following aliases (bash2, freebsd):
alias apnic='whois -h whois.apnic.net' alias arin='whois -h whois.arin.net' alias ripe='whois -h whois.ripe.net'
So, suppose I get spam with an originating IP of 1.2.3.4, I just grab a shell and type
[speaker@candletruq]$ arin 1.2.3.4
If ARIN refers me to RIPE or APNIC, I use the `arin` or `apnic` commands, respectively. Within a couple of seconds, I know which ISP was abused to send the spam, as well as (usually) some administrative contact for that provider. A few more seconds and I have the same information about whichever ISP is hosting the spamvertarget. If you find yourself constantly typing out...
whois -h whois.arin.net 1.2.3.4
...or the appropriate flags to your flavor of whois, setting aliases to point to ARIN/RIPE/APNIC's servers can be a huge timesaver.
A script I wrote some time ago, called ANAL - get your mind outta the gutter, it stands for Auto NANAS and Lart - takes care of the rest. I paste in the spam, headers and all; then if I'm bothering to report it, I'll also enter in some abuse contacts for the origin/target ISPs. I post the form, the script posts a copy of the spam to the Usenet newsgroup news.admin.net-abuse.sightings, and also sends abuse reports to any email addresses I specified.
Not necessarily trying to plug myself, but if you've got PHP installed, check out ANAL. You can report spam to the ISP, and also archive a copy in Google Groups (which can help in future spam cases against the same spammer or spam-friendly ISP) at the same time.
Yes, I actually named one of my machines candletruq.
Could this get rid of the speed problems of XFree86 while still retaining Xlib compatibility?
If you're talking about my Pentium 75 firewall with 40 megs of RAM, I'd say that the answer is probably "no." Then again, I think I saw a pig flying on the way home from work today;)
Slashdot Mirror
(B) sounds an awful lot like it would be illegal for me to spoof an email header, browse the web through a proxy server, or perhaps even use Freenet.
Note that the language of this bill specifies a "device," but does not require that the device must be hardware. "Device" is defined later in the bill as "any type of electronic mechanism, transmission lines or connections and appurtenances thereto, instrument, drive, machine, equipment, technology, or software." Freenet is, by its very nature, a "device" which attempts to "conceal the place of origin or destination of [a] communication."
The major problem with this bill is that the language is too broad - apparently by design: The bill allows for felony charges for violations, and allows for $1,500 - $10,000 fines per device. The bill stipulates that counts and fines shall be imposed per day, that is, if you use 2 unauthorized "communications devices" for a week, you're guilty of 14 violations of this bill (well beyond the qualification for a felony charge) and you're liable for anywhere from $21,000 to $140,000 in fines.
This bill needs to die, or to have its language strictly clarified. If neither of these things happen, don't be surprised when you see "TN Resident Gets 15 Year Sentence for Open WAP" in the YRO section.
I visited Tauzin's official House of Representatives website, at http://www.house.gov/tauzin/. At the bottom is a Search button, with a select list to choose how many search results you want to receive. I decided to search for "MPAA" and see if he'd mentioned them in any of his recent press releases.
Unfortunately, I didn't get any results. Not because he's trying to hide anything, but because there's nowhere to enter a search term! The "Search" button is sitting there with no way to enter what you're searching for. Brilliant, if only Google had come up with this idea!
Thank you, Rep. Tauzin, for demonstrating your vast knowledge of the digital world. You should fit right in at the MPAA.
Tauzin proposed a bill requiring all TV broadcasters to switch to 100% digital signals with copy protection, just over a year ago.
In July 2002, Billy and his friend Fritz Disney Hollings urged the FCC commissioner to "mandate the implementation of the Broadcast Flag under FCC rules" - which according to a story here just days ago is pretty much a done deal.
The financial support (on the books) may have quit in 2000, but he's still been busy trying to get digital TV, broadcast flags, and copy protection forced down consumers'^W our throats. Looks like the MPAA is finally rewarding him for his efforts...
If you're not familiar with Tauzin, just check out his top contributors. Which industry gave more to his 2000 campaign than any other? "TV/Movies/Music." Your hopes are dashed, I'm afraid.
:)
BTW, is it just me or does every story submitted by "The Importance of" wind up on the front page
Oh well, I'm about to submit a story called "Geeks for Dummies" and paste the entire contents of the "Hackers" screenplay into the description field. I'm sure it will be accepted due to its substantial content. Maybe you'll get first post when it shows up on the front page!
If I get a Bacon Double Whopper with king-sized fries for lunch every day, I KNOW I'm going to get fat. It's not Burger King's fault, for god's sake. If I go to the bar and order 5 shots of tequila, I KNOW I'm going to get drunk. When I miss work the following day from being hung over, should the bar be held liable?
Fast food isn't healthy. I knew this when I was, like, 10 years old. How is it that some guy in his 30's just wakes up one day after a lifetime of Big Macs and decides "gee, it must be that evil McDonalds conspiracy to make me gain weight..." Fast food restaurants are in business to do one thing, and that's sell food. If you come inside with money, they're going to give you some food in return. How is this wrong?
I guess I must have missed the fraudulent ad campaigns that White Castle put out about "eat our burgers 3 times a day and you'll look like Kate Moss." [Subway and Jared are getting borderline here, but it's supposedly a true story, and I imagine they'd have been whacked by the FTC if it weren't. I also imagine that Jared did a shitload of exercising that they neglect to mention in their commercials. Whatever; the guy didn't sue Subway.]
People need to take some fucking responsibility for their own actions and their own meals.
500 Internal Server Error.
..like a Sting operation..
In Washington, D.C., Capitol police set up a network of cameras which can zoom in on someone more than half a mile away. And they did this without the knowledge of even our own senators and representatives. Did you hear about it on the news? Neither did I.
Until or unless the public is able to install surveillance cameras of the type and ubiquitousness that the government can afford, there will be no equality, there will be no oversight "of everyone, by everyone." There will be only surveillance "of the people, by the government." And government officials have a shady reputation of protecting themselves at the expense of others.
</tinfoil>
Earlier today, the article was at the bottom of MSNBC's "Readers' Choice" list. Now it's scrolled off. Alas I suppose that many Americans just don't care about Big Brother...
If you're wondering why this process might take awhile, the following tidbit might interest you. I have a poster hanging on my wall promoting Skinlab's CD "Disembody: The New Flesh." This album was released on a label called Century Media. At the bottom of the poster is the following, in fine print:
"Distribution: SPV in Germany; Caroline Distribution in the U.S.; Suburban in Benelux; House of Kicks in Sweden; Plastic Head in UK; Media 7 in France; NSM Records in Austria; Phonag Records in Switzerland; Self Distribution in Italy; Mastertrax in Spain; MVM in Portugal; MMP in Poland; Globus in Czech Republic; Music Dome in Hungary; Megatherion in Greece; Voices of Wonder in Norway; Spinefarm in Finland; NordicMetal in Denmark; NEMS Enterprises in Argentina; St. Clair in Canada; M.D.M.A. in Israel; Shock in Australia; Rock Brigade in Brazil."
The distributors above most likely have exclusive agreements for their respective markets. Meaning that if Apple wanted to sell tracks from this CD to Canadians, for example, it would first have to get permission from the label (Century Media), and it would then have to contact St. Clair, the Canadian distributor. Even if both of them agreed to let Apple in on the game, the contract between Century and St. Clair would need to be renegotiated, and new contracts drawn up between Apple and both companies.
And all this work only covers the 10 tracks from this album, as it's quite possible that Skinlab's other efforts are distributed through entirely different companies. Not to mention thousands of albums from hundreds of other artists. After all, it's doubtful that Apple would launch a Canadian version of ITMS without having a substantial number of songs available.
My condolences, but I don't think ITMS will be available in (m)any other countries for quite awhile. I agree, sucks... But don't blame Apple.
..Haley Barbour or the other guy? I live in Memphis and we've been bombarded with the (rather dirty, I think) ad campaigns for the MS gubernatorial race. Happy to see MS get a mention on Slashdot, but sort of curious about the politics down there.
Y'all have one thing going for you, at least - the casinos! We've just finally gotten around to approving a state lottery, and it's supposed to be up and running in Q1 04. Maybe a bit more of TN money will stay in TN, but I hope not to the detriment of MS.
My firewall/dns/mail/local dev box is a p75, with 40 megs of ram and a whopping 1GB HD. It's one of the original IBM "Aptiva" models, and could barely run Win95 (it came with 3.11). Now it runs FreeBSD and couldn't be better suited to its purpose, though I have to admit I don't compile anything on it, everything - kernel included - gets compiled elsewhere and installed over NFS.
FreeBSD isn't dying, but it does run on geriatric hardware!
I think public embarassment is totally inappropriate in a high school or college environment. The student in question may well have learned her lesson, but did she go home that night and cry herself to sleep? Was she emotionally or physically uncomfortable for the rest of the class sessions that semester? Did the instructor care one way or another?
Humiliation is never a positive catalyst for change, and IMO this becomes more true with age. If you're 5 years old and accidentally piss yourself in front of your kindergarten class, it's no big deal, because you're 5 and you don't really know what the hell's going on anyway. If you're 15 and a high school sophomore, or 18 and a college freshman, you're not only trying to do well in your education, you're trying to build a social network. You're trying to hook up with or impress or at the very least get along with the cute [girls|guys] in your class.
Public embarassment is enemy #1 as you mature, and is a much stiffer penalty than it was back when you were 5. Your kindergarten classmates will never remember that you wet yourself on the see-saw. But every last hottie in 11th grade will remember that you were the Cliff-note copying moron that the teacher made a big joke about. Forever.
Several anecdotes posted here so far have suggested outing the cheaters in front of the class, to "embarass" them into conformity. I disagree with this tactic. In a college environment, the instructor's students are adults. Treat them as such - even if they aren't acting as such - and, chances are, they'll reciprocate.
Ever see Dangerous Minds? It's not just Michelle Pfeiffer playing some bullshit role. It's the way things work. You treat kids with respect, you get respect back. My mom's been in public education for more than 30 years. Trust me, I've heard more than my share of war stories to convince me that the teachers who cultivate a successful classroom environment are those who treat their students as their peers, not as their subordinates.
Teachers, and especially college instructors, don't humiliate your students in order to change their behavior, as they're only going to lose in the end. Show them that you know what they're up to, but don't embarass them in front of their peers. Show them that they aren't invincible and that no matter how careful they think they might be, they can still get caught. Show them how to deal with transgressions in a discreet manner. Regardless of what you're teaching, these are some of the most important lessons in life.
Thanks to everyone out there who's in education, overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. Keep up the good fight. You only get one chance to make a difference. Make sure it's the right difference.
I generally stick with the basics, whois and traceroute getting the most use. I rarely whois the spamvertised domain itself, unless I'm trying to determine the registrar or its DNS provider... But whois gets a lot of masked use, thanks to the following aliases (bash2, freebsd):So, suppose I get spam with an originating IP of 1.2.3.4, I just grab a shell and typeIf ARIN refers me to RIPE or APNIC, I use the `arin` or `apnic` commands, respectively. Within a couple of seconds, I know which ISP was abused to send the spam, as well as (usually) some administrative contact for that provider. A few more seconds and I have the same information about whichever ISP is hosting the spamvertarget. If you find yourself constantly typing out......or the appropriate flags to your flavor of whois, setting aliases to point to ARIN/RIPE/APNIC's servers can be a huge timesaver.
A script I wrote some time ago, called ANAL - get your mind outta the gutter, it stands for Auto NANAS and Lart - takes care of the rest. I paste in the spam, headers and all; then if I'm bothering to report it, I'll also enter in some abuse contacts for the origin/target ISPs. I post the form, the script posts a copy of the spam to the Usenet newsgroup news.admin.net-abuse.sightings, and also sends abuse reports to any email addresses I specified.
Not necessarily trying to plug myself, but if you've got PHP installed, check out ANAL. You can report spam to the ISP, and also archive a copy in Google Groups (which can help in future spam cases against the same spammer or spam-friendly ISP) at the same time.
Yes, I actually named one of my machines candletruq.