Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 01:17:25 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net>
To: WSFAList at KeithLynch.net
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Spam Suggestion
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

Steve Smith <sgs at aginc.net> wrote:
> Basically, the suggestion is that everybody has an e-mail box with
> the US Post Office, and spam can only be sent to that address.

Implying that spam sent to any other email address would be illegal.

Who would enforce it?  At least 99% of all spam is blatantly illegal,
using forgery and site hijacking to advertise blatantly fraudulent
products.  The FTC reports having received HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of
complaints, even though the vast majority of spam victims have long
since given up reporting their spams, since no action is ever taken.

What's the point in enacting new laws when existing laws aren't being
enforced?  And CAN'T be enforced, since the amount of spam is so
utterly overwhelming.  If they hired the whole population of the world
as police, and each new cop were to process one complaint per hour,
they still couldn't keep up.

Even if the proposal was workable, there's no need to get the USPS
involved.  Simply allow each ISP to declare itself pro-spam or
anti-spam, and outlaw sending spam to (or from) addresses on any
anti-spam ISP.

Presumably no ISP would declare itself pro-spam, since it would have
no customers.  Except spammers, who would open write-only accounts
using stolen credit cards, and send each other millions of spams (none
of which would be read) until the ISP crashed.

> ... would you even look at a mailbox that was guaranteed to be
> nothing but spam?

About as often as I go out of my way to look inside an overflowing
septic tank.

> Problem is, spam isn't about businesses advertising their products.
> It's about spammers selling their services to naive businesses.

99% of it is crooks pretending to be selling something, in an attempt
to get your credit card number or bank account number, so as to steal
all your money and your identity too.
--
Keith F. Lynch - kfl at keithlynch.net - http://keithlynch.net/
I always welcome replies to my e-mail, postings, and web pages, but
unsolicited bulk e-mail (spam) is not acceptable.  Please do not send me
HTML, "rich text," or attachments, as all such email is discarded unread.