Porn-related spam proves relentless

The Denver Post ^ | 12/22/02 | Jennifer Beauprez

[mikegi]

This is a case where government can help. Here's my plan:

1) All porno websites worldwide should be required to use .xxx in their domain name, with harsh legal penalties for those violate the law.

2) No unsolicited porno in email (words or images). Users must register with a .xxx site to receive such email.

3) Invalid return addresses and relaying would be illegal.

None of these laws would hurt legitimate businesses.

Mike

[DoughtyOne]

Thank you for the suggestion Tom.

[Drew68]

Porn funds the internet.

Please explain. I'm not sure how this can be as I have seen countless amounts of porn on the internet and have never paid one thin dime to access any of it.

[HairOfTheDog]

It wouldn't work well, because the internet is world wide, and so are these web sites. US laws can't stop any of it, if they can just relocate to another country.

[Timesink]

On the computer screen, where he was playing video games, were pictures of naked women consorting with animals.

Why is the reporter holding out on us? I want to know, you all want to know: What kind of animals? Gerbils? Birds? Horses? THE PUBLIC HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW!

[insert Mrs. Slocombe joke here]

[DAnconia55]

But the DMA bribes are just too good right now.

UCE will continue to increase.
Legislation will be feel-good, and not give you what you want.
Americans will become accustomed to UCE just like commericials, and will ignore it.
Large companies and Fortune 500's are now moving in to use UCE.

The battle is already won. (By our side)

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I've been using Sneakemail for a long while now. It is the bomb.

With Sneakemail, Mailwasher, Popup-Stopper and a good hardware firewall...nobody bothers me.

[Senator Pardek]

I'm boring.

[SamAdams76]

This may anger some people but I believe that if you are getting this porn mail, then you (or somebody using your computer) have frequented porn sites. I've been on the Internet for nearly 10 years now on a daily basis. I've spent many thousands of hours on the Internet. I have never gotten this porn mail. And I have never been to a porn site.

[Senator Pardek]

On a related note, my brother told me his son bought a PC game where at one point the player's "character" gets oral sex from a prostitute - not graphic, but implied (from a "reputable" software maker).

I'm no prude, but that's plain wrong.

[Drew68]

with harsh legal penalties for those violate the law.

Who's laws? The laws of France, where porn is available on regular television? The laws of The Netherlands, where 15-17 year-olds may participate legally in making porn? The laws of Saudi Arabia, where possession of any kind of porn is, no doubt, a capital offense?

Who gets to make and enforce these laws?

I'm not slamming your post, I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here. It is something to think about.

[SSN558]

"The law has no teeth," said Lane. "It's terribly frustrating when people complain, and there's not a thing we can do about it."

There is something you can do about it. Hit the reply button and type in fbi.gov in the c.c. space. Don't expect instant results it takes a few times for the pornographers to get the message. When they do get the message you will be removed from scores of lists. I reduced the volume of porno emails about 80% in just a few weeks.

[Gorzaloon]

Americans will become accustomed to UCE just like commericials, and will ignore it.

Almost got there, till the porn flood ruined it.

Large companies and Fortune 500's are now moving in to use UCE.

Like Harris vs. MAPS?

The battle is already won. (By our side)

See you in NANaE. We keep hearing this whistling by the graveyard, have for years.

Now, go sell your Millions CD while it lasts. Or whatever it is you think is a legitimate product.

Plonk.

[DAnconia55]

Like Harris vs. MAPS?

Like Microsoft. Let's see you stop them :)

And I don't agree with the XXX porn spam. Not wise. Not a good idea at all.

All it will take is a little backroom dealing with Congress, and spam will be totally 'legit'. You ain't got the money to buy Congressmen, and the big companies do. That and a few teams of corporate lawyers, and the net nannies will be out of business.

Anti-Capitalist Geeks vs Billionaires. Guess who'll win?

[Cicero]

I've been getting a ton of spam, much of it pornographic. In addition to MailWasher, a nice little Freeware program is SpamPal. Check it out.

http://www.spampal.org.uk/

[tubebender]

Well, it is true that I use my broadband ISP email account for everything. They may filter out some spam.

I have been using a cable connection since I got my new mac in April and they seem to have a handle on the spam. I am not a adventurous surfer and buy very little on line but I am impressed with he absence of spam to the point of wondering what I am missing. I send and receive email in Eudora and OE which I never use.

[HairOfTheDog]

I use Outlook... and I do have Outlook delete some 'Spam', but most of what I receive has an explanation... Like newsletters from places I am registered and such. Those are auto deleted, easier than unsubscribing from the list.

[rdb3]

[mikegi]

It's a non-trivial problem. However, other means of transporting porn handled legally. For example, is it legal for a person in the Netherlands send me in the USA underage porn via regular paper mail?

A lot can be done by making laws covering name servers, hence the .xxx domain for porn. There needs to be accountability in domain names. Names that imply a US address (those without country suffixes) should be subject to the anti-porn laws. I'm mostly interested in protecting people in the USA who are not seeking out porn. In other words, typing whitehouse.com should not point to porn.

[Gorzaloon]

Anti-Capitalist Geeks vs Billionaires. Guess who'll win?

Depends on HOW LONG they will be billionaires. So...what are the odds of Ralsky retiring his mortgage?

Now, the favorite spammer rebuttal or insult is "Anti-commerce", or "Anti-capitalists".

What messes up those pigeon holes, is that I _LOVE_ commerce and capitalism, and over the last three years have built a profitable web-based business.

But then, you would only have contempt for me because I (New concept) PAY FOR ADVERTISING, rather than steal other people's resources, or hijack unsecured relays in Third World countries.

Again. No real product has ever been sold via spam, and no real product ever will be, because the concept has become poison to any real company. That guy in Canada did not last all that long, spamming furniture. He did well. For a little while. I had some exchanges with him, and found him a pleasant sort. But he was still a spammer, and still sucked, in the end. There are NO long term success stories. ( Sanford Wallace?) Nope, there is only Herbal Viagra, Porn, Mortgage Referrals (And that market will collapse this year)...Oh, yeah, I forgot the Laundry CD.

Don't forget to move your name up one position in the list now!! Get that Porsche! You can do it!