JohnsonBox Posted November 12, 2002 Share Posted November 12, 2002 Deluged by many of unwanted Emails that show off tons of pompous commercial charms, somehow, I found these days my main Email address has been exposed by certain technical means. And what made me surprised is the appendix of these Emails, which claims this is not a spam, the reason is that "as long as we include contact information and a remove link for removal from our mailing list", and this reason is "Under Bill s.1618 Title III passed by the 105th U.S. Congress", so this mail cannot be considered Spam. I don't know the concrete contents of "Bill s.1618 Title III passed by the 105th U.S. Congress" , could anyone paste it here? And any comment on this case appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Spaceman Posted November 12, 2002 Share Posted November 12, 2002 Google is teh bomb. http://www.zyra.org.uk/spamdef.htm The Official Definition of SPAM You often see stuff like this as an excuse in spam... This E-mailing has been sent to you as a person interested in the information enclosed. This E-mail is not SPAM under the Federal Regulatory laws of the United States. This message is being sent to you in compliance with the proposed Federal Legislation for commercial e-mail (H.R.4176-SECTION 101 PARAGRAPH (e) (1) (A)) and Bill s.1618 TITLE III passed by the 105th US Congress. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience. or this... This message is in full compliance with U.S. Federal requirements for commercial email under bill S.1618 Title lll, Section 301, Paragraph (a)(2)© passed by the 105th U.S. Congress and is not considered SPAM since it includes a remove mechanism.* This message is not intended for residents in the states of CA, NC, NV, RI, TN, VA & WA. Screening of addresses has been done to the best of our technical ability. or even this... This message is in full compliance with U.S. Federal requirements for commercial email under bill S.1618 Title lll, Section 301, Paragraph (a)(2)© passed by the 105th U.S. Congress and cannot be considered SPAM since it includes a remove mechanism. To remove you email address (#recipient#) send an email with the subject line "remove" to some bogus remove address@who-cares or what about this... This message is in full compliance with U.S. Federal requirements for commercial email under bill S.1618 Title lll, Section 301, Paragraph (a)(2)© passed by the 105th U.S. Congress and cannot be considered SPAM since it includes a remove mechanism. If you are not interested in receiving our e-mails then please reply with a "remove " in the subject line. Anyway, it's all rubbish, and the reason is quite simple: Governments have limited powers, and this matter is something beyond their jurisdiction. Some governments overstep themselves and try to exert power where they have no right to do so, and one of the worst offenders is the US Government (that's why the USA is in so much trouble in the world!) But leaving aside all the politics, quite simply the US Federal Law has no power to tell you whether it's raining in the UK, whether God exists or doesn't, whether something smells bad or not, and whether you are inconvenienced/annoyed by some e-mail or not! These limits on powers were understood by wise rulers such as King Canute who knew full-well he could not hold back the sea, but are neglected by some regimes who sooner or later are heading for trouble. It's not just that the Government of the USA has no jurisdiction over the rest of the World, despite all the sabre-rattling and pontificating that you see, it's that NO government has the power to tell you what the truth is in your own mind! So, if you receive an unsolicited e-mail which you can't reply to and which you find annoying, then YES, IT IS SPAM! No amount of Americanist Legislation will make it not so. What's the REAL definition of SPAM then? Well, the actual real definition is defined in the relationship between the sender and the recipient. If the sender has no consideration or care for the recipient, then it is spam. This is not easy to prove for any particular case, as it is something in the mind of the sender, but let's try to illustrate the concept by a few examples: Suppose someone sends out a friendly message to several of their friends, that's not spam. Suppose someone sends out a bulk e-mail to members of an opt-in list with proper remove options, then that's not spam either. Now the real defining point... Suppose someone sends out an e-mail to a lot of people who they've never met, (ie unsolicited), then it isn't necessarily spam, provided that the sender accepts that any of the recipients may REPLY and may enter into communication. (The way to measure this is by doing a thought experiment where the recipient puts the same amount of human resources into the reply as the sender did as per a one-to-one message. If this is wasted, then the original message is spam). So, a sender who understands and accepts that the recipients may reply and start talking to them, isn't really sending spam. Some might say that ANY e-mail which is ANNOYING is SPAM, but this is a bit extreme. Of course it's valid if that's what they think. After all, the individual has higher authority than the government. In general, however, there has to be live-and-let-live, so businesses need to be able to advertise and to offer potential customers stuff for sale. Customers have the right to accept or refuse, and shouldn't be pestered. For any SENT communication there is an implicit acceptance of possible REPLY. If these maxims are considered, then the spam problem is solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnsonBox Posted November 12, 2002 Author Share Posted November 12, 2002 Google is teh bomb....... Thanks. I'll read these terms carefully. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hypercube Posted November 13, 2002 Share Posted November 13, 2002 Another loophole :huh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnsonBox Posted November 13, 2002 Author Share Posted November 13, 2002 (The way to measure this is by doing a thought experiment where the recipient puts the same amount of human resources into the reply as the sender did as per a one-to-one message. If this is wasted, then the original message is spam). Sounds ordinary but actually with a profound insight. ******************************* In addition, your essay makes me think that you are an expert or a professional of anti-spam issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Spaceman Posted November 13, 2002 Share Posted November 13, 2002 (The way to measure this is by doing a thought experiment where the recipient puts the same amount of human resources into the reply as the sender did as per a one-to-one message. If this is wasted, then the original message is spam). Sounds ordinary but actually with a profound insight. ******************************* In addition, your essay makes me think that you are an expert or a professional of anti-spam issue. I didnt write it, I found it on google, the link that I got it from is on the top of the post. =o) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnsonBox Posted November 13, 2002 Author Share Posted November 13, 2002 (edited) I didnt write it, I found it on google, the link that I got it from is on the top of the post. =o) OIC, I was so lazy to click that link, and I had ever almost been scared by your high writing speed... LOL! But anyway, still thank you. Edited November 13, 2002 by JohnsonBox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keldyn Posted November 13, 2002 Share Posted November 13, 2002 thread moved to internet security Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike232 Posted November 17, 2002 Share Posted November 17, 2002 a remove link for removal from our mailing list more like an add link, just so they know ur address is active, or am i just paranoid :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessterw Posted November 18, 2002 Share Posted November 18, 2002 a remove link for removal from our mailing list more like an add link, just so they know ur address is active, or am i just paranoid :p Nope not paranoid at all. Many companies, organizations, individuals that send spam categorized e-mails will use any reply or use of a "removal link" as a verification that the (your) e-mail address is valid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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