The Roadie's Manifesto

> I kno win an ideal and perfect world SPAM would not exist, but we do not
> live in a prefect world - far from it.

All it takes for evil to prevail is for good people to stand by and do nothing.

> SPAM is nothing new.

Neither are other forms of crime. Want to ignore them, too? Is that good advice on how to live one's life?

> Junk snail mail is SPAM it is just not called that.

This is just plain wrong. Bulk postal mail way be unwanted, but its entire cost of production and delivery is paid for by the sender. About all you can say costs the recipient is the cost of disposal, but the postal service has effective ways to prevent its delivery if you fill out the right form.

The economics of bulk postal mail make sure that pizza parlors in Peoria don't send you snail-mail in Sacramento, for instance.

> You will never get rid of SPAM
> because it is profitable, sad, but true.

Perhaps not. Burglary, for instance, is still with us. But we can make life uncomfortable for a few spammers, drive the marginal ones out of business because they lose money, and then the professionals can be prosecuted with the few legal tools out there.

Good news recently: http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_140164414.html

> People keep buying stuff from
> spam and that is why commercial spam exists and continues to proliferate.

True. Stupid people continue to breed.

If I owned a company I would fire anyone caught using corporate computers to buy anything advertised in spam.

> Same goes with junk mail and all other forms of SPAM/unsolicited
> advertising.

You keep confusing spam with junk mail. Why? (And SPAM [all CAPS] is a registered trademark of the Hormel corp. Please don't use the word spelled that way to describe unsolicited commercial email.)

> I hate spam too, but life goes on. it is up to the individual anymore to
> protect against SPAM, whether it be their website, email, whatever.

OK. Maamaw uses one way to protect against spam, and that's to aggressively defend her property rights by increasing the spammer's cost of hitting this board. That's to cost the spammer their web site or ISP connection used to post the spam ad here. I'm her volunteer tool to accomplish that purpose.

Are you trying to dictate the way we choose to fight spam?

> I don't know why this forum chooses to waste time and space with spammers.

The "forum" doesn't waste time. It's a community of individuals. My hobby, and sometimes it pays off, is to track, embarass, and sanction spammers.

> Just delete the message and go on with life and implement measures to
> lessen it (because you can never eliminate it, only reduce it).

Your mileage may vary. A lot of messages get deleted and never get seen. Others bounce off Maamaw's filters and don't even make it to the board. What shows up is only the tip of the iceberg. Unless you own a board or are spamming them, I'm not sure you understand the magnitude of the threat.

> What you
> do not realize is that the more you show them that you are paying
> attention to them, the more they will SPAM you.

Nonsense. Unless you're in bed with spammers, you have no data on this claim. And it's inconsistent with your next claim that they use automated posting software. Which is it?

> THat is the way they work.

My credentials include ten years tracking spammers, taking to a hundred or more of them on the phone, costing them thousands of sites and email accounts, and lurking on some of their little spammer message forums.

Thank you for telling me they do it for the thrill of annoying us and not for beer money.

> They love to get on your nerves and tease you.

They do, eh? Who's "they". Names, please. Robert Alan Soloway is the only one who comes to mind. And he just lost over $7M in a judgement that went Microsoft's way. What a loser.

> They like it becaue they
> never have to meet anyone in person.

Oh, you're just guessing now.

> I love this forum but it really turns me off many times when I come here
> and I see SPAM posts not deleteed and even whole threads of venting posts
> wasting space on the forum. I'd rather come here to see only one new post
> a day rather than see 10 new posts with 9 being wasted SPAMMER venting
> posts.

So would we, but I think we're not just going to roll over and admit defeat in the face of the spammer threat. If they understand it's dangerous to spam this forum, they can tell their friends and stay the heck away.

> I'm telling you, not only does all this not do anything good for anyone,
> but it can make it worse by lettin ghtem know it bothers you.

Evidence, please?

> Not to
> mention that these spammers do not see any of it. they post to forums like
> this using automated scrpts/software. they thrive on forums that need no
> password to enter. But the bottom line is tha tthe software submits the
> SPAM for them. they never come backl to see if there are responses because
> they know if there are any, they will be posts telling them to stop and
> how much they hate them.

So how do we express our displeasure except by costing them their web sites? That's a message they can't ignore. :-)

> I really wish this site would just delete the SPAM and get on with
> business.

Maamaw will read your vote, I'm sure.

> After all, this is a business forum. No use in wasting time with
> spammers. Business 101 dictates that tim eis money and there is no time to
> devote to spammers other than effective anti-spam techniques.

Speak for yourself. I have a budgeted amount of time and money I can spend on the spammer problem. Until I run out, I go where the spammers are and track 'em. If Maamaw wants me to leave her flock unguarded and take her chances with the wolves, she'll tell me. If I'm changing the nature and focus of the forum in ways she decides are distracting, I can go elsewhere.