[pmmail-list] Spam -- your definition

[verizon]

On Fri, 31 May 2002 23:21:11 -0300, PMMail OS/2 Support wrote:

>On Fri, 31 May 2002 17:53:46 -0400, John Swartzentruber wrote:
>
>>I find it a little odd that we don't have the same definition. 
>
>Actually, I'm told it's not that odd and that most people don't
>really share the exact same definitions for many words. Or so my
>researcher friend tells me.
>

And lest we forget the earliest (that I learned anyway) tenet of
philosophy: Define your terms.

Terms come and go in a blink and we don't take the time to think about
what they are communicating.  We know what we mean, but what good is it
if other people mean something entirely different?  I am once again
impressed by your perceptiveness Trevor, and thank you for trying to
wring some sense out of our ill defined jargon.

That said I don't have a clue how to define spam.  I think that we
would be better off trying to define a set of reasonable behavior rules
taking into account that advertising is inevitable.  However
advertising using deceptive and perhaps illegal means of distribution
should certainly be frowned upon.  Ultimately the only way that I
believe there is to control the problem is by a lack of response by the
vast majority of internet users.  So it falls on us as "enlightened
users" to convince the rest of the world to just throw out all mail
that is unsolicited and useless.  Commercial, political, and personal
(such as false virus warnings and feel good messages that you must send
to 10 friends) all rely on someone responding.  If no one responds than
the medium becomes ineffectual and uneconomical.  I do believe that the
market economy ultimately rules these transactions and as the users of
the medium we rule the market economy.  While that may sound somewhat
dreamy and naively trusting in market forces I believe that it is more
effective than any government (or isp) regulation can be.

And that is my tirade.  I will now once again sit quietly in the back
of the room.

John




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