This whole thing just amazes me... almost beyond comprehension. Who would have thought, back in the old days, that so much could be made of so little? E-mail, "spam" or otherwise, is merely pixels on a computer screen. It has no substance. It only exists until someone deletes it. It causes no harm. I mean really... how tough is it to hit a delete button? I do it hundreds of times each day. I have NEVER been harmed by an unsolicited e-mail.
The only reason it's such an issue is because the governement, in their infinite wisdom, has seen fit to enact laws to try to regulate it. Thus, giving people like Joepublic an avenue to profit via the judicial system.
I pick up my mail at the Post Office each day. In the lobby, there is a trash can that overflows onto the floor with junk mail no one wants. That mail not only kills trees and contributes to the polution problem by filling up landfills but also consumes a huge amount of energy to produce and dispose of. It also wastes the time and resources of the postal service to deliver, although it's profitable for them.
If I bring my junk mail home to dispose of it, because I don't want the credit card applications lying in a public waste bin, I have to pay to have it hauled away.
No laws exist to regulate the amount of junk mail I get so no one sues.
There are signs and billboards dotting the landscape as well. Advertisements on bus benches, rolling billboards on trucks and bandit signs planted at every intersection. No one seems to mind these assaults on the landscape but they are more offensive to the senses than any e-mail I've ever received. I cannot simply delete them.
No laws exist to regulate how many advertising signs I have to look at, so no one sues.
I pay for satelite TV service, yet quite a few minutes out of every hour are wasted by commercial advertisements. I pay for that time. I also pay for cellular phone service and I get text message advertisements. I pay for the use of the minutes used for these incoming advertisements.
No laws exist to regulate how many TV commercials or text message ads I have to see, so no one sues.
I see people everywhere wearing clothing emblazoned with advertising. Either the makers logo or some other ad placed on the clothing. People pay for that clothing and wear it proudly. They're paying to promote a brand and, unless I walk with my head down, I'm forced to see it.
No laws exist regulating advertising on clothing so I have to look at it and no one sues.
I also pay for the government and the judicial system that allows people like Joepublic to profit from filing these "worseless" lawsuits. I'm not happy about that, either. I really wonder just who it was that lobbied so hard for these laws to make it possible for people to file lawssuits against e-mail advertisers?
My entire point is; we live in a capitalist society. Our lives are surrounded by and, in some cases, made possible by advertisements. So what's the big deal about getting an unsolicited e-mail? Hit the delete button and move on. Who really cares where they come from? If it's something someone's not interested in, they have a choice.
I don't care where an e-mail originates and I don't care if the sender tries to mask who it's from. I'm savvy enough to realize that if I see an e-mail that looks personal but is from someone not in my e-mail address list, it's likely an ad. I don't care to have the government or anyone else decide for me what I should see or what I shouldn't.
I can pick out the junk mail in my regular mailbox from a mile away. I'll bet some of it has fake return addresses and some of it even has no return address at all. There are no laws that require the senders to give me an way to opt out of getting their mail. I can sign up for the "do not call" list for telephone solicitors or sign up for a service that will cut down the amount of mailing lists I'm on but who really cares? I can hang up or toss the junk mail. I prefer making the choice myself.
Once again, no one sues.
Joe, please don't preach to me how you're going to make the Internet or the world wide web a better place. I don't buy it. It's not up to you to protect me or anyone else. You've found a way to profit from it, plain and simple. You're just fishing, by making these honey pot e-mail addresses and hoping someone will send an e-mail to one of them so you can sue.
Even if, as you say, you're not directly profiting from the lawsuits and are donating the proceeds to charity, it's still something that makes you feel like you have the power over someone else. I think it's a perversion of the judicial system. You don't like the way the alledged spammers earn their living and I'll bet they're just as unhappy about the way you make yours. I think you're even.
The Internet and the web are the modern version of the wild west and I like it just fine, just the way it is.
The only reason it's such an issue is because the governement, in their infinite wisdom, has seen fit to enact laws to try to regulate it. Thus, giving people like Joepublic an avenue to profit via the judicial system.
I pick up my mail at the Post Office each day. In the lobby, there is a trash can that overflows onto the floor with junk mail no one wants. That mail not only kills trees and contributes to the polution problem by filling up landfills but also consumes a huge amount of energy to produce and dispose of. It also wastes the time and resources of the postal service to deliver, although it's profitable for them.
If I bring my junk mail home to dispose of it, because I don't want the credit card applications lying in a public waste bin, I have to pay to have it hauled away.
No laws exist to regulate the amount of junk mail I get so no one sues.
There are signs and billboards dotting the landscape as well. Advertisements on bus benches, rolling billboards on trucks and bandit signs planted at every intersection. No one seems to mind these assaults on the landscape but they are more offensive to the senses than any e-mail I've ever received. I cannot simply delete them.
No laws exist to regulate how many advertising signs I have to look at, so no one sues.
I pay for satelite TV service, yet quite a few minutes out of every hour are wasted by commercial advertisements. I pay for that time. I also pay for cellular phone service and I get text message advertisements. I pay for the use of the minutes used for these incoming advertisements.
No laws exist to regulate how many TV commercials or text message ads I have to see, so no one sues.
I see people everywhere wearing clothing emblazoned with advertising. Either the makers logo or some other ad placed on the clothing. People pay for that clothing and wear it proudly. They're paying to promote a brand and, unless I walk with my head down, I'm forced to see it.
No laws exist regulating advertising on clothing so I have to look at it and no one sues.
I also pay for the government and the judicial system that allows people like Joepublic to profit from filing these "worseless" lawsuits. I'm not happy about that, either. I really wonder just who it was that lobbied so hard for these laws to make it possible for people to file lawssuits against e-mail advertisers?
My entire point is; we live in a capitalist society. Our lives are surrounded by and, in some cases, made possible by advertisements. So what's the big deal about getting an unsolicited e-mail? Hit the delete button and move on. Who really cares where they come from? If it's something someone's not interested in, they have a choice.
I don't care where an e-mail originates and I don't care if the sender tries to mask who it's from. I'm savvy enough to realize that if I see an e-mail that looks personal but is from someone not in my e-mail address list, it's likely an ad. I don't care to have the government or anyone else decide for me what I should see or what I shouldn't.
I can pick out the junk mail in my regular mailbox from a mile away. I'll bet some of it has fake return addresses and some of it even has no return address at all. There are no laws that require the senders to give me an way to opt out of getting their mail. I can sign up for the "do not call" list for telephone solicitors or sign up for a service that will cut down the amount of mailing lists I'm on but who really cares? I can hang up or toss the junk mail. I prefer making the choice myself.
Once again, no one sues.
Joe, please don't preach to me how you're going to make the Internet or the world wide web a better place. I don't buy it. It's not up to you to protect me or anyone else. You've found a way to profit from it, plain and simple. You're just fishing, by making these honey pot e-mail addresses and hoping someone will send an e-mail to one of them so you can sue.
Even if, as you say, you're not directly profiting from the lawsuits and are donating the proceeds to charity, it's still something that makes you feel like you have the power over someone else. I think it's a perversion of the judicial system. You don't like the way the alledged spammers earn their living and I'll bet they're just as unhappy about the way you make yours. I think you're even.
The Internet and the web are the modern version of the wild west and I like it just fine, just the way it is.
