UGNetwork Channel _ / _ User Group Library _ / _ Web _ / _ Spammer in Slammer Index

Put a Spammer in the Slammer by Phil Agre


Part 8
Questionable strategies


Some strategies for complaining about spam have significant drawbacks.

If you think you have the spammer's true e-mail address, you can send back a couple dozen copies of the offending spam, or else three or four large messages each containing dozens of copies. This approach, however, has four problems: first, you may not have identified the spammer correctly, so that an innocent person gets your mail-bomb; second, the spammer's ISP might stagger under the weight of your messages, thus potentially inconveniencing others; third, spammers have better mail filters than you, and are unlikely to see your mail- bomb; and fourth, you have just provided your e-mail address to a person who sends annoying e-mail. I don't recommend this approach.

Another questionable approach is to threaten the spammer with violence or property damage. Though perhaps momentarily satisfying, this method is probably ineffective, possibly illegal, and certainly immoral. The last thing we need is spammers stereotyping anti-spammers as terrorists. A large number of other vigilante measures, such as circulating a spammer's identity on the Internet or complaining about the spammer to his or her business associates, should be approached only with extreme caution, given the potential for harming innocent people or provoking expensive legal action. Do nothing that is illegal, or that might provide grounds for a lawsuit.

I also do not recommend availing yourself of the mechanisms that spammers advertise for removing yourself from their mailing lists. Many of those mechanisms are bogus, and they tend to legitimize spam. The goal here is to stop spam, not to legitimize it.

You might try configuring your mail-reading program to screen out spam by recognizing certain domains or phrases. Some people have reported good success with this approach, but many others have not. Even if it works, it is only a viable solution for the technically sophisticated, and it does not alleviate the burdens that spam creates for legitimate system operators. This is a community problem that seeks community solutions.

Finally, I absolutely do not recommend ignoring spam. Many people argue that you should just ignore it, since flaming creates bad energy, doing anything constructive takes effort, and lots of experts are out there solving the problem. This is hooey and I denounce it. The war is not won, and it will not be won simply through the heroic labors of experts. Everybody's efforts are crucial, including yours. Pick something that you can do and do it, and know that lots of other people are doing the same.

Previous Section _|_ Index _|_ Next Section



Publication Restrictions:
Nonprofit user group publications may reprint this article provided that you print it in its entirety, verbatim, without any additions, deletions, or modifications, and so long as you include the following copyright statement:

"(c) 1997 by Phil Agre. All rights reserved.
Phil Agre is an associate professor of communication at the University of California, San Diego. He edits an Internet mailing list called the Red Rock Eater News Service, on which this article was originally distributed. Details on the Web at http://communication.ucsd.edu/pagre/rre.html . "

You'll also need to send Phil a hardcopy of the issue when it appears.

UGNetwork Channel _ / _ User Group Library _ / _ Life Online


USER GROUP EDITORS: Articles posted in this area have been cleared for publication in your newsletters. We do encourage you to contact the author for additional details and/or updates. Please ALWAYS credit the original author!
Articles posted here by UGNetwork News staff, or the UGN News Service may be reproduced ONLY after your group has become a registered Network affiliate. Contact the UGNet-News for authorization and the UGNet News Affiliate publicity package. Thank you. Copyright 1995, 1996, 1997, The User Group Network, and on behalf of the respective authors.
All of this content, and the associated services are donated through the generous efforts of members from the User Group community. This content area is provided by The User Group Network News Service, and is sponsored by The Design & Publishing Center as a public service.