Symantec wins $3 million in counterfeit-software suit

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Are you for real?

"a. Spend beaucoup bucks insuring their systems don't send any spam."

- The reality is that it is a known fact that most ISPs DON'T allow spamming. And they are not spending 'beaucoup bucks' to acheive that status. They simply make rules and enforce them. And they in fact save 'beaucoup bucks' by not having ot process mass mailings. Bandwidth is not free! Legitimate advertisers are still free to advertise from their own servers and not from the anonymity of a third party amoral ISP. Got it?

"Wait a minute, what is spam?"

- Yeah right. You probably don't know what 'telemarketing' is either.

"Does that mean they eliminate all commercial messages?"

- No, only the anonymous ones. Got it?

"How do they figure out what can go from their servers and what can't? Mass mailings, right? What size is that? Fifty, hundred, thousand?"

- Commercial mailings of ANY amount should require a commercial account that makes sure a) that none of these mailings go to addresses on a do not spam list, and b) that all of them carry appropriate 'point of contact' and 'remove from list' links. This is not a big deal to police, nor to enforce. It does cost money. That money should come from commercial mass mailers as they are the ones responsible for the problem.

"b. Just decide that e-mail is no longer worth it and drop it as an internet service. Competition you say will keep them in, since competitors will all offer it. Maybe, but also maybe competitors will face the same problems they do."

- Yeah, just like the phone companies have gone out of business since the advent of the 'do not call list'. I heard a lot of apocolyptic stuff about that before it went into effect, but guess what? Now I can finally sit down and enjoy my dinner without my phone ringing all the time with someone trying to sell me on a mortgage or some other product I don't want in the first place. The same can be done with email once the rules are in place. And foreign ISPs can be blacklisted and appropriately filtered. Not only that but those who use them CAN be apprehended and prosecuted. Follow the money.

"c. Take the risk, but insure that they have the money to cover the risk. Guess where that money will come from? Their profits? Don't think so. The spammers? Right. The customer? You got it. Same issue as malpractice. Somebody cashes in, but you and I don't, but we pay the freight. So, if you want to make the ISP liable for spam, be my guest, but be prepared to fund your plan with big bucks from our pockets."

- Once again, it is a known fact that spammers use 'spam engine' ISPs because most ISPs will not tolerate spam generators. So much for your argument.

"By the way, Can-Spam did not make spam illegal, it just set rules the spammers are (supposed) to abide by."

-It DOES make it illegal to spam people whose email address is on a do not spam list.

"Also, by the way, all spam is not an illegal commercial enterprise any more than junk mail through USPS is illegal."

- The amount of 'junk mail' I receive is trivial compared to the amount of spam I receive. And in the case of junk mail, I know who the senders are. But I would certainly be in favor of a law that would prohibit postal mailings to anyone on a do not solicit list. Commercial advertising that invades the privacy of the one being solicited is wrong and should be illegal, whether it takes the form of telemarketing, junk mail, or spam. I can put a sign outside my door that prohibits soliciters from harrassing me, I should be able to do the same in regards to other forms of commercial harrassment. You people who think you have some constitutional right to invade peoples space on the grounds of commercial enterprise are simply wrong and your arguments will not prevail in the courtroom or the legislative arena. Go away. We do not want you. You have the Yellow Pages, the newspaper, the tv, the radio, etc. Plenty of legitimate advertising venues. You should not have the right to force direct marketing on those who are not interested in your sales pitches. Enough already!

Posted by: George Mitchell   Posted on: 12/24/03 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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