Spam. I know it when I see it.
and you do too
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 by rabidrobot | Discussion: Internet
The spam watchdog group spamhaus.org was recently sued by "Bulk Emailer" e360Insight in an Illinois court. Because spamhaus.org is based in the UK, spamhaus.org simply did not "accept U.S. jurisdiction." As a result summary judgment was issued, to the tune of $11.7 MILLION dollars, and there is a chance that the judge may further punish spamhaus.org by forcing (or attempting to force) the powers that be to delete spamhaus' domain name.
I'm not a lawyer, certainly not an international law lawyer. I'm not British either, so I hope I am using this right when I say to spamhaus, "Bully for you!"
Not being a lawyer, I find much of the legalities too boring to get into. But the gist of the case seems to be, spamhaus.org called e360Insight, a company run by one guy, David Linhardt, a spammer. And in so doing blocked many of the millions of emails this creep sends out from reaching the mailboxes of folks like you and me.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once wrote an opinion on the difference between art and hard-core pornography, saying of porn, "I know it when I see it." Apparently he later realized that was not a tenable legal definition, but the basic idea still fits, especially for us laymen.
Linhardt claims his massive mailings are not spam. Well, again, I don't know the legal definitions. But here is a list of some of the emails e360Insight sends out.
And that, my friends, is spam.
Spammers claim that people want their mail. Yet they falsify their email headers and alter the email content constantly, in an attempt to get past our spam filters. If we wanted their mail, we wouldn't be trying to filter it out. So no, spammers, we don't want it.
I don't think I need to tell you all how irritating spam is. What a drain it is on the internet, sucking bandwidth from legitimate use. Remember, we are talking about billions of emails a day.
I hope that spamhaus.org eventually prevails, that the Judge in Illinois realizes he has no jurisdiction, and that David Linhardt is a spammer.
But I also wonder one thing. How do spammers make money? Who is out there buying penis enlargement creams? Who buys stock based on a misspelled multicolored gif stocktip? We should continue, as netizens, to encourage legislation to deter spammers. We should encourage grass-roots efforts like spamhaus.org. But I think we should also wonder, who the heck are these idiots who keep spammers in business, and how can we educate them.
Keep the faith, spamhaus.org. We're on your side.
Reply #2 Tuesday, October 10, 2006 2:21 PM
Reply #3 Tuesday, October 10, 2006 4:26 PM
~Zoo
Reply #4 Wednesday, October 11, 2006 3:45 AM
| There are roughly....let's say...20 or so penis enlarging products that I think I've been spammed. It includes pills and creams. Now, they usually guarantee around 3 inches or more of growth...if you used all those products you would gain 60+ inches of penis...and that my friends, is a lot of cock. |
Think I saw a bloke once who might've tried them all! He'd just emerged from a swim at the beach and IT was dragging along the sand behind him....
When I couldn't stop myself from uncontrollable laughter, he snapped: "What f**k are you laughing at....don't yours shrink when you go in the water?"
Seriously, I once read a medical report somewhere that condemned these 'so-called' enlargement creams, pills and devices. It stated that only a surgical procedure would produce any noticable, permanent growth and cited medical evidence to refute the guarantee of 2-3 inches growth given by these cream/pill manufacturers. It went further to say that use of these 'enlargement' programs can actually result in permanent tissue damage and should be banned, given the false advertising/lack of evidence to support their claims.
Makes you wonder, don't it....just how many men, feeling they were severely short changed in the appendage department, who are tempted into trying 1 or 2 - 8 or 9 of these creams and/or pills, etc.
Actually, it's not a laughing matter...there a lot of people making a ton of money off other peoples insecurities, then not delivering because they're bogus and were never able to. Hopefully, Spamhaus.org can make major inroads into this nasty spam industry and put an end to it.
Reply #5 Wednesday, October 11, 2006 4:13 PM
| In a statement, [ICANN] said it "cannot comply" with that or any other order instructing it to suspend a specific domain name because it "does not have either the ability or the authority to do so." |
I also made an error in my initial post. The original suit was filed in an Illinois court, but after a successful petition by spamhaus.org, e360Insight was forced to refile in a Federal court, which is the one that has made all the subsequent rulings.
Reply #6 Friday, October 13, 2006 11:52 PM
Reply #8 Saturday, October 14, 2006 12:31 AM
One unsolicited email sent to one person is 'unsolicited email'.
That same unsolicited email sent to multiple addresses is called 'spam'.
If and when it actually becomes a punitive offence unilaterally to engage in spamming will be NONE TOO SOON.
Sodding bastards should be strung up and shot as an example to all....
Reply #9 Saturday, October 14, 2006 2:28 AM
You can accidentally end up on their lists, even though you have never sent a SPAM in your life (an error in their automated detection methods, competitor forges SPAM in a way that you will be blamed or files false complaint). There is nothing to stop them listing you for merely criticising them, or because someone bribed them (this is not necessarily happening, but as there appear to be no safeguards to prevent this it is a real danger).
A proportion of the public face of some anti-SPAM organisations are anonymous yahoos, some with clear psychological issues, mercilessly tearing victims apart in torrents of abuse that would see them arrested in 'real life' in their obsessive quest to punish someone, *anyone*, for their clogged inbox. Guilt is presumed until proven innocent. No opportunity to be proven innocent will be given to anyone, *ever*. Their 'logic' is irrefutable in their own minds, but they do not realise it is based on erroneous assumptions.
I for one do not subscribe to the attitude that a small number of people having their reputation destroyed or their domains (or businesses) shut down in error should be the price paid for the greater good. Someone once told me that mistakes are insignificant, because you only lose a very small percentage of legitimate mail, however they failed to see that 100% of an individual's mail can be that small percentage. Like car crashes, people find it "acceptable" so long as it "only happens to someone else" or "someone I don't care about".
We definately need these services, and no doubt many of the people involved are honest Joe's doing the community a great service and I for one will say 'thank you' and 'good for them'. Yet, granting a group of anonymous individuals full power to say who has Internet access and who does not on a global scale, without independant review, without knowing if they are hostile, friendly, or a commercial competitor, is a serious error in my view.
Reply #10 Saturday, October 14, 2006 3:57 AM
If it's unsolicited I wouldn't care a damn whether it was the NOBLEST of intentions ..."Land Rights for Handicapped Gay Ethnic-Minority Whales"...spam is spam.
It's as unwanted AND as unneeded as tele-marketing.
No-one has the right to abuse another individual through invasive marketing of commercialism without their consent...
...or at least no-one SHOULD have that right.
No-one,
Nada,
Zip.
Death is too lenient for spammers...
Reply #11 Saturday, October 14, 2006 4:33 AM
| Death is too lenient for spammers |
You are right - they should have their penis enlargements removed 
Reply #12 Saturday, October 14, 2006 9:50 AM
| You are right - they should have their penis enlargements removed |
....along with their nuts. They need shootin, rootin' and electrocutin' - prior to being pelted in the stocks....hung, drawn n' quartered.
I know how annoying it is to be innundated with spam and have to wade through multiple instances to get to licit emails, but touch wood, I haven't received spam in a while now, thankfully.
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SPAM
Reply #15 Saturday, October 14, 2006 6:12 PM
| SPAM |
Now that's not nice...they do you a favour by letting you know your sub is up for renewal, and then you go post that. Can see what'll happen next time...you'll forget it's up and (now) there'll be no reminder.
Just a thought: wouldn't it be good if everyone could save up all their spam until they reached about 5mb, so that when the next batch arrives, they could batch attach them all before hitting the reply button....spammers in-boxes bloated to overflowing.
Okay, so it wouldn't work, but it'd be good if we could annoy the crap out of spammers that way.
Reply #16 Monday, October 16, 2006 3:06 AM
Now I've gotta decide - decisions, decisions, do I invest or save up my money for some liposuction on my big fat gut....the latter making the former unnecessary as I'd be able to see it again.
Seriously, there are some really annoying consequences to doing online searches...very recently did one on a long term health issue (arthritis), and the next thing I know I'm being bombarded with a spate of medical, pharmacy and porn ads.
GO spamhaus....need any help in the gonad removal department?
Reply #17 Monday, October 16, 2006 4:48 AM
SIXX21 ... no, that is not spam. It is informing you that your site membership has expired.
You voluntarily agreed to become a site member...it was a conscious effort/intent on your part.
To receive notification that a renewal is due is actually considerate and beneficial as part of said membership.
Look up what the definition of 'unsolicited mail' actually is, m'kay?....
Reply #18 Monday, October 16, 2006 6:54 AM
It's a topic. A topic I might occasionally say something about. But no wine. And Jafo suffices.
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Reply #1 Tuesday, October 10, 2006 1:51 PM