[pmmail-list] Spam -- your definition

[Brian Morrison]

On Thu, 30 May 2002 12:06:34 -0300, PMMail OS/2 Support wrote:

>You have an argument, but the senders of the email in question may be
>paying for their Internet connectivity (i.e. their server space,
>bandwidth, etc. -- in other words, their share of the network
>infrastructure costs).

If you believe that Trevor, I think you haven't noticed that 100% of
spam tries to avoid making itself identifiable in terms of origin, and
every ISP has an AUP forbidding the sending of UBE/UCE.

>
>The key is, as you say, "EVERY [emphasis is mine] other end user on
>the Internet." This, by definition, includes the spammer himself.
>While some will steal others' server time, some may attempt to
>legitimately pay for the delivery of their "spam", just like any bulk
>user of the postal system.

I've never seen this happen, I see every spam mail as a personal attack
on me and my meager resources, no one has ever offered to pay me money
for what I receive. I actually pay over the odds for ISP service so
that I have smtp mail delivery, it's a lot easier to bounce mail when
you don't have to use POP3.

>
>Yes, there may be other costs caused by the transmission of their
>messages outside the part of the network they are paying for, but the
>same is true for *noncommercial* emails sent to you. So are you
>saying that if they're not trying to make money, people should be
>allowed to use the network resources for free, but if they are trying
>to make money, they should not be? That seems reasonable.
>

No, although I'd like to see abusers hobbled, what I really want to see
is the acceptance that if someone says "I don't want any unsolicited
*commercial* mail" then they don't get any, and it should be actionable
with low barriers to litigation in the event of serious abuse. Not
everyone will take this option, but it should be there if wanted.
Something like an independent verification of spam status triggering a
small penalty per event that rapidly becomes very painful for the
spammer if the numbers of the spammed are high enough.

-- 
Brian Morrison                                       bdm@fenrir.org.uk
              do you know how far this has gone?
               just how damaged have I become?
                                      'Even Deeper' by Nine Inch Nails

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