On Tue, 26 Nov 2002 18:34:29 CST, Glenn Gilbreath Jr. wrote:
> Samuel,
> No, you missed my point, regarding blocking all Caucasions,
> or whatever being similar to blocking ALL Yahoo addresses,
> Hotmail domains, etc. Let's try this one...let's say that
> you live somewhere in Arizona, doesn't matter where. Lately
> you and several others in Arizona have been receiving a ton
> of unwanted commercial mail, for everything from free porn
> magazines, to sweepstakes, to get rich quick schemes. Many
> of these postal messages bear a postmark from Montana. So,
> in order to "solve" the spam problem, your local post office
> now blocks ALL incoming mail from the domain Montana! Doesn't
> matter that you have family and/or friends in Montana...they
> will simply have to drive across state lines to Idaho if they
> are going to mail you a Christmas card this year! That's
> how annoying blocking email from whole IP addresses or domain,
> servers, etc. really is. Does it curb the flow of spam? NO!
> It is still sent. Spammers don't really care if messages
> get bounced, they probably figure for about 50 percent bounce
> anyway. The next thing, what does your post office do with
> all that mail that it no longer delivers? It must still be
> handled and returned to the sender...there needs to be a
> solution whereby the actual guilty individuals are held
> accountable for spam...not everyone that happens to be on
> the same server or ISP.
> C U L8R!
> Wiz <{;-)
> Wiz <{;-)
> Wizard57M
> Glenn Gilbreath Jr.
> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/index.htm
> -- DOS Internet, Close Windows and Keep the Internet Open! --
Not a good analogy at all. If you were getting oodles of spam bearing
a "sender's" return address of "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" you could block
all messages purportedly originating from "shentel.net". I could still
send you an email simply by using an alternate email address. I could
send it to you from this very same computer. I would not have to drive
out of state. Junk snail mail is not as annoying as spam. When you
get your junk snail mail you will find that the sender always pays the
postage. If anyone sends you some junk snail mail with postage due, it
is your option to simply decline to pay the postage and to refuse to
accept the unwanted item. When you download spam emails you must accept
all of them whether you want them or not, and you must pay the postage
due. The postage bill comes in the form of whatever you spend for your
internet connect time and your telephone bills in the case of a dialup
connection. In some situations you might even have to pay long-distance
fees just to get spammed.
There are laws designed to punish the individuals who send spam.
Unfortunately, these laws are not being enforced. There are
some legal difficulties and other technical problems in successfully
prosecuting the spammers. These problems have already been discussed
on this list.
Returning junk snail mail to the sender is not a problem because the
sender pays the postage and the revenues from the postage keep the
postal workers employed.
Returning email spams to the sender is a problem because:
1. It costs your ISP money to bounce the spams. You pay to support
your own ISP.
2. Sometimes the bounced spams will be bounced right back to you.
3. When you bounce a spam the spammer is able to confirm your email
address as valid.
4. Sometimes when you try to bounce a spam you will annoy an innocent
party rather than the true culprit who really sent you the spam.
Sam Heywood
