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Down With Spam
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I have a pet peeve. Spam! It consumes time and resources and costs many of us and many businesses as well money, man hours and frustration. For example I get a minimumof at least 200 spam or phishing emails a day. Even if this only takes me 15 monuties to handle. Thats 15 minutes every day, 1 hour and 45 minutes every week, 91 hours every year. This is just the minimum for me. Many days it takes me longer. Somne days I have spent as much as an hour dealing with Spam. So forgive me for climbing on my soapbox, but the cost of spam to me is nothing compared to some others and many many businesses. I wrote the following when it happened. Alledged Spam King Arrested in Seattle Washington Robert Soloway, the alledged Spam King, is Arrested! Robert Soloway widely considered most prolific spammer in the world, is now in the custody of federal agents. He is known to have sent millions of spam e-mails, so many in fact that we all should see a decrease in the amount of spam we recieve according to some officials. Government officials say all of his spam should come to an immediate end. Robert Soloway is facing a 35 count indictment including charges of mail fraud, wire fraud, email fraud, identity theft and money laundering. Yet we have to ask after the last 'Big Spammer' got off so easy, are the spam laws tough enough to put a real dent in the spam e-mails we recieve? Microsoft won a seven million dollar judgement against Robert Soloway and yet afterwards he continued to send spam e-mails out. He like other spammers often used names or addresses of real people and real businesses to hide his identity. While the people we talk to do not expect any real decline in spam we can always hope that with each new arrest we are closer to the end of our inbox frustrations. Personally I believe spam will continue unabated for the time being. Yet I believe every effort should be made to stem the flow of spam e-mails now and in the future. Spam costs individuals and companies many man hours of time and that translates to big money in the long run. Everyone should help fight spam every chance they get. Author: Douglas Wolfe First Monday Trade Days Affiliate Match Free Advertising & Resources Online Business Profile Wolfe Web Services Web Design Wolfe Web Services Web Hosting |
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This blog does not match any question.Comments (7)
 HP: 91  |
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| I have been going on about spam for years. I guess I let myself get into a mindset and saw nothing but the time and frustration. But another member opened my eyes to an opportunity the spam we get provides us. They pointed out that some of the spam is sent by people trying to make it online like us. They buy lists never knowing they will be spamming people. The opportunity comes when you send them your offers back since they sent their offers to you. If it is just someone who was duped or got burned with a bad list you may well get a new member for your team.
It is something to think about. A way to turn spam sent to you into advertising for you. Douglas Wolfe |
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HP: 91 |
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| Hi Christopher
The worst part is that most complain about spam. Yet in the article below. The spammers that were convicted in 2004. Created a bogus home business and spammed people with the offer. They only got 10,000 people to pay them 39.95 each in a single months time. So while many of us do rightfully complain about spam. Many others happily throw their money away by answering the spam ads. Spammers make so much money its unreal. The alleged Spam King arrested in the last month or so is an example. Microsoft sued him and won something like $7,000,000. That didn't even slow him down according to the reports I have seen. Of course spam in some form will probably always be around. But everything we can do to slow it down or control it to a degree will help save many of us much time, frustration and money. Douglas Wolfe |
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| G`day Doug,
i`m with you on this issue mate, while I don`t receive anywhere near the amount you do, one is more than I want. I do not ask for this email crap, its a pity some people actually don`t mind getting it ... thinking that just because they may find something of value occassionally, that its ok. Perhaps when their identity is stolen, or their bank account is cleaned out or when their computer crashes from the email virus they welcomed with open arms happens .... perhaps then a light will go on inside their head and they`ll realize well maybe spam ain`t so great after all. Of course most of these people will be still to naive and clueless to put the two together, and sit there wondering "how the hell did that happen". Not a wonder email viruses flourish at such a rapid pace and are difficult to stamp out .... all this fantastic technology at our fingertips and yet security is more or less 5 years behind the times, everyone wants it "free" ... well you get what you pay for usually and those "free email" account are truly pathetic.Of all the spam I receive each day, half of it is either routed thru or is from Yahoo ... the rest are almost always the same domain names so it stands to reason to blackban the whole fricken lot of them ... lol. I value MY time and consider even one spam email a waste of my time even if it only takes me 30 seconds to deal with, I dont work hard at my computer day in day out so I can read worthless email full of worthless links hiding god knows what, I have my OWN products .. I am working for ME and I will base my ultimate success or failure on ME, not pin my hopes and dreams on the latest "me too" product that most people think they are "gonna get rich" with, that is all that is in the emails at best ... go online and seek out what you want, if you dont KNOW what you want then sorry, your not ready to succeed in this game yet. Christopher GIVEAWAY |
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HP: 91 |
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| A commet on SPAM.
On July 8th I recieved a record number of emails for me. I use 4 main accounts. In one account alone I recieved over 800 emails. Once I was done deleting the Spam I had just over 300 left. The time it takes to deal with spam for some of us is absolutly ridiculous. That is why I am so vocal about spam and spam laws. Douglas Wolfe |
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HP: 91 |
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| (This is part 1 of 3)
I wrote this article on November 7th 2004. When the first major spam convictions were handed down in Virginia Slammer next stop for Spammer! First Spam Conviction in U.S.! Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh, N.C., was convicted on three counts of using deceptive routing information in sending bulk commercial e-mail and sentenced to 9 years! Virginia's anti-spam law, which went into effect in April 2003, allows the state of Virginia to prosecute spammers living outside of the state provided the e-mail was routed through Virginia. Even if none of the recipients live in Virginia. More than half of the world's e-mail flows through Virginia, which is home to America Online. The jury heard evidence that Jeremy Jaynes and his sister, Jessica DeGroot, grossed more than $24 million in various e-mail scams. The jury recommended 9 years jail time for Jeremy but, for his sister DeGroot, 28, no jail time was recommended. They fined her $7,500. A third defendant, Richard Rutkowski, 30, was acquitted. Formal sentencing is not scheduled untill February 2005 when Circuit Court Judge Thomas Horne can lower the sentences or go along with the jurys recommendation. Unfortunately Judge Thomas cannot increase the penalties. Author: Douglas Wolfe [url=http://www.1stmonday.com]First Monday Trade Days[/url] [url=http://www.affiliatematch.info]Affiliate Match[/url] [url=http://gotsafelist.com/index.php?id=16461]Free Advertising & Resources[/url] [url=http://www.directmatches.com/wolfepk1]Online Business Profile[/url] [url=http://www.1stmonday.com/cantonfirstmondaywebdesign.php]Wolfe Web Services Web Design[/url] [url=http://www.1stmonday.com/cantonfirstmondaywebosting.php]Wolfe Web Services Web Hosting[/url] |
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HP: 91 |
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| (This is part 2 of 3)
I wrote this article on November 7th 2004. When the first major spam convictions were handed down in Virginia These people made over $24 million dollars by sending out massive amounts of spam through a T-1 connection according to the eveidence presented in court. Also the evidence showed they sent more than 10,000 pieces of spam a day! They were apparently behind the infamous "horse Porn" spam mailings as well as a fraudulent home business that brought in 10,000 credit card purchases of $39.95 each in just one month. We can only wait and see if and on what grounds these defendants will appeal. I would imagine there will be appeals based on free speech issues and most probably on constitutionality of a law such as the one in the state of Virginia. Jeremy Jalnes and Richard Rutkowski were listed in Spamhaus.org's database of top ten spammers in the world at the time of their arrests in december 2003. The virginia law, which was authored by Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, went into effect april, 2003. The Virginia law is not directed at all unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail, only the ones with fraudulent claims. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), nearly two thirds of spam contains false claims. Attorney general Jerry Kilgore said "The indictment alleges that the defendants falsified or forged electronic mail transmission information or other routing information in connection with the transmission of the spam, This falsification prevents the receiver from knowing who sent the spam or contacting them through the 'from address''of the e-mail. This is what makes this e-mail a crime in Virginia and the volume that was sent during this period elevates the charge to a felony". In addition to possibly up to 5 years prison time per count, they face possible forfeiture of property and statutory damages up to $10 per e-mail or $25,000 per day spam is sent. Douglas Wolfe |
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| (This is part 3 of 3)
I wrote this article on November 7th 2004. When the first major spam convictions were handed down in Virginia Many states have now passed spam laws. These laws can vary widely from state to state. Even legitimate e-mail marketing companies have great difficulty navigating all the various requirements. Even the Direct Marketing Association and others who have been known as Staunch Defenders of Indusrty Self-Regultion have begun calling for a federal spam law to create a single standard in the U. S. for legitimate companies and individuals to adhere to when sending e-mail. Now I am very happy, as I am sure many are, that spammers are finally being prosecuted. I just have a problem with fining someone $7,500.00 for making $24,000,000.00 off illegal spam! We can only hope that future prosecutions will result in more appropriate fines for those involved. I do have a concern about states passing laws that allow them to prosecute non residents for crimes that do not effect any of the states residents. I think the law in virginia is a bad law. I agree we need to go after these spammers desperately, yet I still believe a state should only be able to prosecute persons committing crimes in their state or against persins within that state. Congress passed the Can Spam Act of 2003 around the time of the defendants arrest. Many have spoken out against the bill, saying it would do nothing to reduce spam since it allows unsolicited emails as long as they contain certain options or provisions. I think most people have found in the nearly a year since that bill passed. That no there has been no effect on spam! I still recieve in the range of 30 spam emails each and every day in each of my email accounts. I still believe we need an effective federal law that will slow the spammers down yet allow legitimate marketers send out thier e-mail in a standardized legal enviroment. Douglas Wolfe |
