"Since you've been armed with information for months now in this newsletter, you probably noticed it yourself: None of the bills
introduced in the U.S. Congress will have any effect on spam. My personal favorite was the one that wanted to create a "Do Not Call" list, like the federal program to prevent telemarketing, for spam. You can't get any more bogus than that. Sure, every spammer out there is going to check his or her lists to see whether you're on the "Do Not Spam" list before sending you spam. Yeah, right. It also assumes that everyone only has one email address, which just isn't the case.
But as this TechWeb article makes clear, the only thing sure about the current crop of antispam bills is just how little our government understands computer technology and phenomena.
Legislate Away Spam? It Ain't Going To Happen - TechWeb http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20030512S0006
Don't get me wrong, I'm a proponent of antispam legislation that doesn't have any negative impact on legitimate opt-in email senders,
such as Scot's Newsletter. In fact, I'm all for antispam legislation. I think we need it. The recent lawsuits we've seen, such as the $16.4- million EarthLink award granted by a judge last week against spammer Howard Carmack, will only grow in their numbers and award amounts if we have better laws that make it easier to sue and beat spammers in court. If we make it both more difficult and more expensive for spammers to do business, many will turn to different vocations.
EarthLink Gets $16M In Spam E-Mail Case - CRN http://www.crn.com/sections/BreakingNews/dailyarchives.aspArticleID=41852?
It's just that we need to do a much better job of conceiving new laws than we have been. And most of all, we can't assume that legislation on its own will do the trick. It will not. Serious, well researched, well developed technology will be the most important part of the solution. If the government really wants to help, it should probably fund independent research.
-- It's a Spam, Spam World --There's a few spam-related links worth passing on this week
There's a few spam-related links worth passing on this week.
People For Internet Responsibility TRIPOLI Project
Thanks to SFNL reader Michael D. Bray for the above.
- Natural-Born Spam Killers - PC World - http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,109698,pg,1,00.asp
- MailWasher Vendor's Shared Spam Database Effort: - http://www.firetrust.com/products/cfs/
- Study Suggests Spam-Stopping Tricks - CNET - http://news.com.com/2100-1024-993333.html