The Ethics of Spam by Mark Gibbs

From Network World. I'm sure a few people will have something to say on this one.

http://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2001/0402gibbs.html

Jeff

If everything seems to be going well: you don't have enough information.......

 

[PhiloVance]

Went to the site; couldn't possibly read all the back and forth messages, but the general drift I get is that it's turning into a flaming war and that's not good. Apparently we do need some laws regarding spam. A discussion group is great, but it's not going to solve the problem. If there was an easy way to report spam a Central Clearninghouse so to speak, and one could just click on that from his email program would go a long way to stopping the problem. Also maybe some kind of penalty, i.e., monetary as well as loss of internet capability. The dishonest ones would be the only ones left.

Nevertheless, I subscribed to their newsletter!

>:O>


PhiloVance
Other hobbies, interests: Travel, Model RR (HO Gauge), Genealogy.

 

[Alt255]

This is all very interesting. I guess I had forgotten that spam was still a problem in isolated corners of the world.

I never considered spam a question of ethics because I don't receive spam. My email address is visible to thousands but, so far, no nefarious advertiser, recruiter or promoter has managed to fill my in-boxes with mindless crap. True, I get an occasional request from other Tek-Tips members in need of assistance (I respond to all of them, in time).... True, I share my home email with my wife who has Internet friends desperate to forward a thousand jokes, tips, virus hoaxes and observations every day (she has a great time deleting them and sometimes I have to steady her to keep her from laughing herself out of the chair).... True, once-upon-a-time I allowed my kids to access the Internet without supervision and a few unsavory messages appeared (I blocked them and blocked access to the sites)....

True, life has been pretty easy for me. I acknowledge that life can be rough but I fail to see an ethical issue here. We voluntarily abandon a portion of our private identities when we step into the Internet and merge with the global pool. We must deal with problems case-by-case or seek to eliminate all problems by unplugging our computers and committing a form of cyber-suicide.

Hmmm, then again, perhaps the question of resolving ethical issues revolves around the question of what constitutes ethics.

I believe that spam should be outlawed, world-wide. It isn't hurting me but it might hurt another person. There is the source of my angst. How can we discuss ethics in the absence of an ethical precedence?

Should we allow ourselves to walk up to strangers in a public place and try to engage them in a conversation? Probably not... it's just bad manners. Should we persist after the stranger declines the conversation? Undoubtedly not... we could wake up in jail with more than a few bruises. Is this a question of ethics? I doubt it. It's a question of who posesses the required survival skills.

I don't think spam will survive much longer. Darwin had a phrase that described that condition....

Alt255@Vorpalcom.Intranets.com

all ignorance toboggans into know
and trudges up to ignorance again:
but winter's not forever, even snow
melts; and if spring should spoil the game,what then?
e.e. cummings​

 

[iza]

"I believe that spam should be outlawed, world-wide" --> not for today, as dutch police (from the nederlands) is USING spam as a kind of weapon against stolen mobile phones : if your phone get stolen then they send about an email/minute to it - just imagine the stealers deleting an sms ... receiving a new one ... every minute ...
they don't say if it's efficient tho

 

[MasterRacker]

Check out the Anti-Spam Act of 2001:

http://www.spamlaws.com/federal/hr718.html

This was passed almost unanimously by the House last year and the identical bill is before the Senate this year. It's very likely to become federal law soon.

In brief, the bill applies to all commercial e-mail, allows ISP's to enforce spam policies and sue spammers and also allows individuals to sue spammers for $500.00 per message up to $50,000.00. It's a good start that doesn't kill civilians..... Jeff

If everything seems to be going well: you don't have enough information.......

 

[Alt255]

IMHO the law is very weak. It doesn't seek to eliminate spam from the Internet, only to allow penalties for commercial sources that fail to provide a mechanism to "opt-out" of further messages.

There was a time when this kind of dispute was settled with a good-old-fashioned feud, eg: buymystuff.com sends a few too many commercial offers to the wrong computer user who responds with an email bomb that chokes the servers and knocks them offline for a few days (or weeks).

What are the ethics of retribution?

I guess the fact that the legislation has made it this far indicates that spam is a real problem and it is beginning to irritate our leaders (but leave it to congress to try to regulate an issue that should fall in the domain of common sense and common courtesy). Wake me up when the jerks (including current and prospective members of congress) stop filling my postal mailbox with witless drivel and stop calling me during dinner with offers that I simply can't refuse.

If you or one you love have been affected by unwanted commercial electronic messages, I suggest that you email your congressmen and let them know how you feel. About once per minute should be fairly effective.

(Leave it to the Dutch to find working solutions when the rest of us flounder in the mud of indecision.)

Alt255@Vorpalcom.Intranets.com​

 

[ProximitySteve]

Ironic that the U.S. Congress finally comes close to passing laws regarding spam, just as the large majority of spam sources move offshore. As the guardian of a few company mailboxes, I see maybe twenty or so spams a week and roughly 80% come from non-U.S. domains.

The law that a previous poster spoke of is pretty lame, in that it allows a spammer to send spam with opt-out instructions. Fine, people opt-out, and the spammer sells THAT list to his friend, who spams the list, and then sells the opt-out list from that spam to a third spammer... <sigh>

I favor vigilanteism, myself...
-Steve

<insert really clever sig here>

 

[meadandale]

If you are not getting spam in your mailbox, consider yourself lucky. Alot of it depends on your ISP. I have @Home and they make absolutely no attempt to filter spam. In fact, much of the mail that I get isn't even addressed to me. It is addressed to the mail exchange. The mail server gladly delivers it to every single user, even though it's not addressed to any of them.

Until ISP's get with the program and red flag users who are sending out bulk messaging with out a prior arrangement and make some reasonable attempt to thwart the ability of spammers to shotgun spam thousands of helpless users, we are all doomed.

It's only moderated message boards like this that are of any use anymore since most of the newsgroups are littered with more advertisements than content.

 

[Lokoumi]

Spam.

Spam is in my opinion on the same level as infomercials. A droning, repetitive, intensely annoying, form of abuse. Yes abuse! I think that individuals or companies that use this method of advertising are less than human.
The methods that these people employee in order to gain your attention is the same as japanese water torture. An endless &quot;drip, drip, drip&quot; on your mind. Ohhh the humanity! what must we, as one people do to stop these cyber sadists, forcing their private filthy pleasures on the rest of us.

As an ethical issue I think that something must be done to combat these people and quash their unlawful methods of advertising.

 

[Lokoumi]

Oh and it's supposted to be employ not employee, soz lads and ladies.

 

[pivan]

Alt255 is, again right on.
Ya gotta pay to play.

I dislike spam and direct mail, but I dislike the governments intervening in the Internet. Its the first step to regulating it. If you dont believe me..look at what is happening with Gun Control.

Keep the government out of our affairs!! For God sakes man, thats why we are sending all these pretty little girls to Washington as interns.

In not now, when?
If not here, where?
If not us, who?

Just do it!!

 

[McNab]

Spam sux!

Really pisses me off!

At this point, I don't believe much of anything on the internet, especially things being advertised by &quot;spam&quot;. I don't read them or give them any credibility. This is unfortunate because when the day comes that “spam” is reliable (as in not always having a subject of “You WILL be a millionaire in 3 days….”), I’m not sure if I will give it a chance.

Oh, I received a new type of “spam” the other day. The trailer for the new movie “Osmosis Jones” showed up in my hotmail acct. I’m not sure what my feelings on this are yet. I do know that the price of seeing a movie is just ridiculous.

Bottom line … Spam sux! To think that bothering me will sell things is outrageous! It only makes me feel that the company doing it is a joke and bothersome!

Jamie in Canada