[pmmail-list] Spam -- your definition

[PMMail OS/2 Support]

On Thu, 30 May 2002 10:03:18 -0500 (CDT), Robert Gammon wrote:

>The distinction between telemarketers and 
>unsolicited e-mail is lost on me.

I agree completely, they seem very similar to me.

It is my opinion that it was only the greater quantity of email
"spam" that gave rise to a greater level of irritation, which was
escalated to an international outcry/litigation/legislation stage.

Let's not kid ourselves, we have ALL been complaining about junk mail
flyers and "we'll shampoo every rug in your house for $49.95!" phone
calls since before time began. But we never got irritated enough to
make it stop because it was only once a day or so.

>The US Mail service is not free.  We pay for everything we send.  
>Granted, we don't pay for what we receive.  In this respect junk 
>mail delivered by the USPS IS different.  Still, I am paying a 
>price for every piece of US Mail I receive, in that the USPS gets 
>a subsidy from the Federal Government, so I pay for it in the 
>taxes that the Feds get to keep out of my paycheck.

We could go further in the analogy that "spam" costs us all because
of network infrastructure costs. Every piece of junk mail we get
through postal mail was printed on paper, therefore imposing an
environmental cost on society. Those trees will take 100 years to
grow back.


--
Trevor Smith
PMMail/2 Technical Support
pmmailos2@blueprintsoftwareworks.com

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