Comments welcome by email. I don't care if you disagree with me but name-calling and cussing are not acceptable. Comments that are just rude and not relevant will not be posted.
This is the season of goodwill so it's worth remembering there is some good spam.
The warning about the boob hoax I keep receiving, for example.
"I hate these hoax email warnings, but this one is important," it reads. "If a man comes to your front door and says he is conducting a survey and asks you to show him your boobs, do not show him your boobs. This is a scam; he only wants to see your boobs.'
As one recipient lamented: "I wish I'd received this email earlier. I feel so stupid and cheap."
In this article, which is a useful survey of the spam problem, a Korean professor in Alabama offers some insight into some of those foreign spam messages that I get but can't read:
Many spam e-mails I receive from Korea are promotions of their products and marketing opportunities through their websites. Some are fortune tellers, including "sajudaebak", that promise to tell me how I can find my mate, how to bring back my lover who ran away, or how to live a successful life. Others are adult sites. Apparently in Korea, adult sites can admit only those who are over a certain age and require residence registration number as a proof. Having no permanent or even temporary residence in Korea, there is no way I can peek into the adult sites coming from Korea even if I want to.
I was looking for something that would be a little easier and more automated. I was looking for something simple where you'd get my product. We'd get your credit card.
Internet service providers (ISPs) are uncertain how to address the issue and fear government involvement. Critics argue that Canada, one of the world's most connected nations, is a conspicuous laggard when it comes to fighting the problem.
"It's probably the Canadian way. We're hoping that someone else will come up with a solution so we don't have to act," said Senator Donald Oliver.
It doesn't actually tell anybody not to spam; it just tells them they have to be honest while they are doing it. . . . It creates a situation where every legitimate marketer in the United States could send us one message. We could hit remove all day and not make a dent in the potentially tens of millions of possible marketers out there.
Spam has never been limited to e-mail. But now, commercial pitches are increasingly popping up in online chats, instant messages, cell phones with text messaging, and Web log comments."
Even as Congress was unanimously approving a law aimed at reducing the flow of junk e-mail, members were sending out hundreds of thousands of unsolicited messages to constituents. ... At least 40 House members have bought or agreed to buy e-mail address lists from at least four vendors. The lists, which each have tens of thousands of addresses, are generally created by a process called e-mail appending, taking voter registration files from a member's district. The next step is to cross match them with large databases of names and e-mail addresses assembled by consumer data companies. ... Consumer advocacy groups say the policy may unfairly give an advantage to incumbents over challengers because it allows elected officials to use government resources to communicate with voters right up to Election Day.
