Experts: Spam Volume Threatening E-Mail's Future (Spamming SOBs!!)

Yahoo News ^

[GulliverSwift]

By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Spam must be stopped, lawmakers and Internet experts said on Wednesday, but few agreed how to curb the unwanted junk e-mail they say threatens to overwhelm the Internet's most popular application.

On the first day of the Federal Trade Commission's "spam summit," participants could not even agree on what type of online marketing was unacceptable enough to earn the pejorative tag.

Marketers said that deceptive messages with misleading subject lines like "Re: your account" were to blame, squeezing out more reputable operators who only send messages to consumers who want to hear from them.

Internet providers and consumer advocates said it was the sheer number of messages, not their content, that posed the biggest threat.

"The deception does not mitigate the problem of bulk," said Laura Atkins, president of the SpamCon foundation, an anti-spam group.

Unsolicited commercial pitches have been a feature of the Internet landscape since 1978, when a Digital Equipment Corp. salesman sent a message touting a new computer to every West Coast user of the Arpanet, as it was then known.

But spam has become a major problem as the number of unwanted commercial messages has skyrocketed in the last two years. Filtering company Postini Inc. said 75 percent of the mail it handles is now spam, up from 5 percent in 1999. Internet provider America Online said it now blocks over 2 billion spam messages each day, roughly 67 for each e-mail account.

"Spam is threatening to destroy the benefits of e-mail," FTC Chairman Timothy Muris said in opening remarks.

The forum, which brought together marketers, Internet providers, anti-spam advocates and Washington policymakers, gave lawmakers a chance to tout their various anti-spam proposals. California Rep. Zoe Lofgren said her bill would allow Internet users to collect a reward if they helped track down spammers, while New York Sen. Charles Schumer proposed setting up a "do not spam" list of people who did not want to receive commercial pitches.

Sens. Conrad Burns and Ron Wyden said their bill, which outlaws the use of false return addresses, would help track down spammers because it would override the 27 state spam laws already in place.

Without a single national law, "spammers will play one state off another," said Wyden, an Oregon Democrat.

But the Burns-Wyden bill, which so far has won the most support from industry and on Capitol Hill, came in for criticism from providers who said it should include criminal penalties and not override stronger state laws.

All of the proposed bills would prove toothless because they would not allow consumers to sue directly, said Washington State Attorney General Christine Gregoire.

E-mail marketer Bill Waggoner, sporting sunglasses and a ponytail, said that although he did not send messages to customers who did not want them, spam was unavoidable in such an open, global system.

"If you get your e-mail added to the Internet, somebody's going to contact you," Waggoner said. "It's a public deal all over the world."

[GulliverSwift]

Sen. Charles Schumer proposed setting up a "do not spam" list of people who did not want to receive commercial pitches.

I don't want to insult him for being a Democrat, but this is a very stupid idea.

E-mail marketer Bill Waggoner, sporting sunglasses and a ponytail, said that although he did not send messages to customers who did not want them, spam was unavoidable in such an open, global system.

"If you get your e-mail added to the Internet, somebody's going to contact you," Waggoner said. "It's a public deal all over the world."

This boy sounds like a spammer who's not admitting it. I'm sure this hippie sends out 100,000 a day.

I think spammers should be shot. I'm sick of opening my mail and seeing mostly garbage. What they should do is a public flogging or two. Or better yet, some vigilantes should flog him themselves and broadcast it on Tech TV.

[steplock]

Problem #1 with getting something done about SPAM:

"All of the proposed bills would prove toothless because they would not allow consumers to sue directly, said Washington State Attorney General Christine Gregoire."

Spoken like the sleazy attorney she is - along with ALL the other attorneys out their that make out idiotic tort system.

They DON'T want any type of law that will work - how will they sue someone and make more million$ for themselve$ ??

[MizSterious]

Someone on FR recommended "MailWasher"--I'm using it now, and I love it. I no longer have much of a spam problem. But a few weeks ago, I would have envied anyone who received only 65 spams a day.

The question I have, though, is why do they do it? How can making zillions of people mad (or furious at times) be good for business? Maybe some of the spams offer good deals--I wouldn't know, because I won't open them, and if I did, I still wouldn't buy simply because they're so annoying.

[ThePythonicCow]

This boy sounds like a spammer

He is, bigtime.

From CBS News: Meet The Kings Of Spam, NEW YORK, Aug. 5, 2002:

Bill Waggoner runs Las Vegas-based AAW Marketing. Waggoner e-mails ads for mortgages, sexual stimulants, weight loss products and an ointment that purports to ease female sexual dysfunction.

[GulliverSwift]

d AAW Marketing. Waggoner e-mails ads for mortgages, sexual stimulants, weight loss products and an ointment that purports to ease female sexual dysfunction.

I've gotten ads for each one of those things, although I didn't quite understand the one to ease female sexual dysfunction. I think we have our first flog target. Tie him up by his pony tail, then........

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

Marketers said that deceptive messages with misleading subject lines like "Re: your account" were to blame, squeezing out more reputable operators who only send messages to consumers who want to hear from them.

...they said with a straight face.

[observer5]

"New York Sen. Charles Schumer proposed setting up a "do not spam" list of people who did not want to receive commercial pitches. "

Why not setup a "I want spam" list, dummy.

[GulliverSwift]

"They wanna hear from me!"

"Me too!"

"And me too!"

[discostu]

It works the same was as any advertising. While the majority ignore it some actually buy the product because of it, and because spam is so cheap to make (compared to any other form of advertising) the percentage of buy in you need to make it profitable is negligible.

[Nick Danger]

This is all a bunch of posturing. The same sort of island monarchies that are already havens for shady banks and online casinos will welcome spammers as well, as long as they pay their baksheesh to the right members of the royal family. Laws aren't going to do squat about this.

We need better technical solutions.

[punster]

"Why not setup a "I want spam" list, dummy."

Is there any way to put Chuckie Scumerde, aka Senator Putz on the 'I want spam' list. It should keep him busy, and not causing trouble. Besides, I cannot think of anyone more deserving to be spammed.

[Dialup Llama]

I dont see how MSN and AOL are now anti-spam crusaders. Their systems are desgined to CAUSE spam. My ISP nicely filters out most spam before it even hits my mailbox (so the spammer never knows he reached a valid address).

MSNs Homtail will allow delivery of messages with invalid reply-to fields and many other obvious cases of spam.

[vetvetdoug]

I am getting about 50 spams per legit email a day. I take the time to forward all of the spam to the FTC. I put the FTC in my address book and the spammers are now sending the FTC the junk... I really hate my mail now because of all of the trash, porno, and snake oil sales.

[Political Junkie Too]

The federal government (Congress) getting involved in internet spam is simply the foot in the door that eventually leads to taxing the internet to "pay for the protection" from spam.

-PJ

[MizSterious]

You can always try MailWasher. It's free, or you can register it for a very reasonable price. I registered mine, and think it's a good value. What I like best is that none of that icky stuff ever touches my computer. It never gets past the server.

[snooker]

Isn't it odd that some of the complainers about spam, popups and the other related trash are the very ones who are doing it?

One thing about UNIX/Linux is it doesn't allow things to be added to your registry, things that run on your system without authorization, spyware, ad bots etc.

Our ISP, a cable system, blocks most before it shows in mailboxes. What is left my Linux box bounces back at them, showing an invalid address.

snooker

[steve-b]

On the first day of the Federal Trade Commission's "spam summit," participants could not even agree on what type of online marketing was unacceptable enough to earn the pejorative tag.

Simple. If it's not confirmed opt-in, it's spam. Attempts to argue otherwise deserve as much respect as Clowntoon's attempt to quibble over the definition of the word "is".

[steve-b]

Well, then, every reputable ISP cuts off any and all packets from the offshore haven. When it has as much connection to the global economy as an Amish village, the local government will see the light and crack down.

[Nick Danger]

Well, then, every reputable ISP cuts off any and all packets from the offshore haven. When it has as much connection to the global economy as an Amish village, the local government will see the light and crack down.

Life is so easy when you're a dictator. Every problem has a simple answer: "Off with their heads!"

Return with us now to the real world, where — no matter what they tell you — a third of your customers are downloading crap from Porno Island. Cut off the packets to get the spammer, and a third of your customers quietly go away, without ever saying why. The ISPs all know this; it's why they don't do it.