CAN-SPAM: Law Barring Junk E-Mail Allows a Flood Instead - GoFuckYourself.com

Furious_Female · 02-01-2005, 10:50 AM

http://nytimes.com/2005/02/01/techno...rtner=homepage

"Can Spam legalized spamming itself," said Steve Linford, the founder of the Spamhaus Project.

By TOM ZELLER Jr.

Published: February 1, 2005

A year after a sweeping federal antispam law went into effect, there is more junk e-mail on the Internet than ever, and Levon Gillespie, according to Microsoft, is one reason.

Lawyers for the company seemed well on the way to shutting down Mr. Gillespie last September after he agreed to meet them at a Starbucks in Los Angeles near the University of Southern California. There they served him a court summons and a lawsuit accusing him, his Web site and 50 unnamed customers of violating state and federal law - including the year-old federal Can Spam Act - by flooding Microsoft's internal and customer e-mail networks with illegal spam, among other charges.

But that was the last the company saw of the young entrepreneur.

Mr. Gillespie, who operated a service that gives bulk advertisers off-shore shelter from the antispam crusade, did not show up last month for a court hearing in King County, Wash. The judge issued a default judgment against him in the amount of $1.4 million.

In a telephone interview yesterday from his home in Los Angeles, Mr. Gillespie, 21, said he was unaware of the judgment and that no one from Microsoft or the court had yet followed up. But he insisted that he had done nothing wrong and vowed that lawsuits would not stop him - nor any of the other players in the lucrative spam chain.

"There's way too much money involved," Mr. Gillespie said, noting that his service, which is currently down, provided him with a six-figure income at its peak. "And if there's money to be made, people are going to go out and get it."

Since the Can Spam Act went into effect in January 2004, unsolicited junk e-mail on the Internet has come to total perhaps 80 percent or more of all e-mail sent, according to most measures. That is up from 50 percent to 60 percent of all e-mail before the law went into effect.

To some antispam crusaders, the surge comes as no surprise. They had long argued that the law would make the spam problem worse by effectively giving bulk advertisers permission to send junk e-mail as long as they followed certain rules.

"Can Spam legalized spamming itself," said Steve Linford, the founder of the Spamhaus Project, a London organization that is one of the leading groups intent on eliminating junk e-mail. And in making spam legal, he said, the new rules also invited flouting by those intent on being outlaws.

Not everyone agrees that the Can Spam law is to blame, and lawsuits invoking the new legislation - along with other suits using state laws - have been mounted in the name of combating the problem. Besides Microsoft, other large Internet companies like AOL and Yahoo have used the federal law as the basis for suits.

Two prolific spam distributors, Jeremy D. Jaynes and Jessica DeGroot, were convicted under a Virginia antispam law in November, and a $1 billion judgment was issued in an Iowa federal court against three spam marketers in December.

The law's chief sponsor, Senator Conrad Burns, Republican of Montana, said that it was too soon to judge the law's effectiveness, although he indicated in an e-mail message that the Federal Trade Commission, which oversees its enforcement, might simply need some nudging.

"As we progress into the next legislative session," Mr. Burns said, "I'll be working to make sure the F.T.C. utilizes the tools now in place to enforce the act and effectively stem the tide of this burden."

The F.T.C. has made some recent moves that include winning a court order in January to shut down illegal advertising from six companies accused of profiting from thousands of X-rated spam e-mail messages. But so far, the spam trade has foiled most efforts to bring it under control.

A growing number of so-called bulletproof Web host services like Mr. Gillespie's offer spam-friendly merchants access to stable offshore computer servers - most of them in China - where they can park their Web sites, with the promise that they will not be shut down because of spam complaints.

Some bulk e-mailers have also teamed with writers of viruses to steal lists of working e-mail addresses and quietly hijack the personal computers of millions of unwitting Internet users, creating the "zombie networks" that now serve, according to some specialists, as the de facto circulatory system for spam.

"We've thrown everything but the kitchen sink at this problem," said Chris Smith, the senior director of product marketing for Postini, a company that filters e-mail for corporations. "And yet, all of these efforts have yet to make a significant dent."

Mr. Smith was speaking in a conference call with reporters last week to discuss Postini's 2005 e-mail security report, which echoed the bleak findings of recent academic surveys and statistics from other vendors that filter and monitor e-mail traffic.

--
Maybe the media should glorify it a little more and make it more appealing... </sarcasm>

Paco, of Large Cash. · 02-01-2005, 10:57 AM

lol ... you a funny girl.

cheapbulletproof · 02-11-2005, 09:24 PM

yup why not

tungsten · 02-11-2005, 09:27 PM

all the law did was move all the spammers offshore..

MrJackMeHoff · 02-11-2005, 09:28 PM

Suck on all that yummy mail mother fuckers!

- Not that I have anything to do with it..

What do they expect to happen when they try to stop people from making money as they should be allowed to do.

cheapbulletproof · 02-11-2005, 09:30 PM

sucking all the way to your bank

cheapbulletproof · 02-11-2005, 09:31 PM

email taste better warm

emthree · 02-11-2005, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Furious_Female

"There's way too much money involved," Mr. Gillespie said, noting that his service, which is currently down, provided him with a six-figure income at its peak. "And if there's money to be made, people are going to go out and get it."

I find it hard to believe that these fuckers who get caught actually brag so much.
or maybe I'm just overestimating their intelligence

Steen2 · 02-11-2005, 10:50 PM

cheapbp, are you not being sued by MS right now?

Juicy D. Links · 02-11-2005, 10:56 PM

If the US Govt was given 10k per year or so per spammer for licensing and shit and permission to send email, they wouldnt give a rats ass

smack · 02-11-2005, 11:20 PM

just another case of over legislating something in a stupid and nonsensicle way.

mardigras · 02-11-2005, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smack

just another case of over legislating something in a stupid and nonsensicle way.

Kinda like the "war on drugs"...

smack · 02-11-2005, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mardigras

Kinda like the "war on drugs"...

exactley. you can't kill an industry or product when there is a high demand for it.

Drake · 02-11-2005, 11:56 PM

I don't see anything wrong with Can Spam itself. If people don't like the rules in it, try to change it.

It's good to have rules for marketing. Eliminating email marketing altogether wouldn't be good. It's a great way to market legitimate things.

Offshore unsolicited non-opt in spam operations are a completely unrelated phenomenon. You can't stop it, at least it doesn't appear to be something that can be stopped right now. Those operations aren't endorsed by legitimate email marketers and those who abide by Can Spam.

02-01-2005, 10:50 AM	#1
Furious_Female Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Upstate, New York Posts: 8,187	CAN-SPAM: Law Barring Junk E-Mail Allows a Flood Instead http://nytimes.com/2005/02/01/techno...rtner=homepage "Can Spam legalized spamming itself," said Steve Linford, the founder of the Spamhaus Project. By TOM ZELLER Jr. Published: February 1, 2005 A year after a sweeping federal antispam law went into effect, there is more junk e-mail on the Internet than ever, and Levon Gillespie, according to Microsoft, is one reason. Lawyers for the company seemed well on the way to shutting down Mr. Gillespie last September after he agreed to meet them at a Starbucks in Los Angeles near the University of Southern California. There they served him a court summons and a lawsuit accusing him, his Web site and 50 unnamed customers of violating state and federal law - including the year-old federal Can Spam Act - by flooding Microsoft's internal and customer e-mail networks with illegal spam, among other charges. But that was the last the company saw of the young entrepreneur. Mr. Gillespie, who operated a service that gives bulk advertisers off-shore shelter from the antispam crusade, did not show up last month for a court hearing in King County, Wash. The judge issued a default judgment against him in the amount of $1.4 million. In a telephone interview yesterday from his home in Los Angeles, Mr. Gillespie, 21, said he was unaware of the judgment and that no one from Microsoft or the court had yet followed up. But he insisted that he had done nothing wrong and vowed that lawsuits would not stop him - nor any of the other players in the lucrative spam chain. "There's way too much money involved," Mr. Gillespie said, noting that his service, which is currently down, provided him with a six-figure income at its peak. "And if there's money to be made, people are going to go out and get it." Since the Can Spam Act went into effect in January 2004, unsolicited junk e-mail on the Internet has come to total perhaps 80 percent or more of all e-mail sent, according to most measures. That is up from 50 percent to 60 percent of all e-mail before the law went into effect. To some antispam crusaders, the surge comes as no surprise. They had long argued that the law would make the spam problem worse by effectively giving bulk advertisers permission to send junk e-mail as long as they followed certain rules. "Can Spam legalized spamming itself," said Steve Linford, the founder of the Spamhaus Project, a London organization that is one of the leading groups intent on eliminating junk e-mail. And in making spam legal, he said, the new rules also invited flouting by those intent on being outlaws. Not everyone agrees that the Can Spam law is to blame, and lawsuits invoking the new legislation - along with other suits using state laws - have been mounted in the name of combating the problem. Besides Microsoft, other large Internet companies like AOL and Yahoo have used the federal law as the basis for suits. Two prolific spam distributors, Jeremy D. Jaynes and Jessica DeGroot, were convicted under a Virginia antispam law in November, and a $1 billion judgment was issued in an Iowa federal court against three spam marketers in December. The law's chief sponsor, Senator Conrad Burns, Republican of Montana, said that it was too soon to judge the law's effectiveness, although he indicated in an e-mail message that the Federal Trade Commission, which oversees its enforcement, might simply need some nudging. "As we progress into the next legislative session," Mr. Burns said, "I'll be working to make sure the F.T.C. utilizes the tools now in place to enforce the act and effectively stem the tide of this burden." The F.T.C. has made some recent moves that include winning a court order in January to shut down illegal advertising from six companies accused of profiting from thousands of X-rated spam e-mail messages. But so far, the spam trade has foiled most efforts to bring it under control. A growing number of so-called bulletproof Web host services like Mr. Gillespie's offer spam-friendly merchants access to stable offshore computer servers - most of them in China - where they can park their Web sites, with the promise that they will not be shut down because of spam complaints. Some bulk e-mailers have also teamed with writers of viruses to steal lists of working e-mail addresses and quietly hijack the personal computers of millions of unwitting Internet users, creating the "zombie networks" that now serve, according to some specialists, as the de facto circulatory system for spam. "We've thrown everything but the kitchen sink at this problem," said Chris Smith, the senior director of product marketing for Postini, a company that filters e-mail for corporations. "And yet, all of these efforts have yet to make a significant dent." Mr. Smith was speaking in a conference call with reporters last week to discuss Postini's 2005 e-mail security report, which echoed the bleak findings of recent academic surveys and statistics from other vendors that filter and monitor e-mail traffic. -- Maybe the media should glorify it a little more and make it more appealing... </sarcasm> __________________ Skype: j3nn.com ICQ 160370494 My current favorite high-converting sponsor: CrakRevenue

02-11-2005, 09:24 PM	#3
cheapbulletproof Confirmed User Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 144	yup why not __________________ My sig was changed cause I don't know how to read the rules on this page http://www.gofuckyourself.com/gfy_faqs.html You can contact me about getting on as an advertiser - eric AT adult.com

02-11-2005, 09:27 PM	#4
tungsten Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 10,579	all the law did was move all the spammers offshore.. __________________ VOYEUR /HOMEMADE, HENTAI / CARTOON, Reality, Amateur, Shemale, Hardcore, Cuckold, Celebrity, Retro/Vintage, ect...ALL OUR SITES >> Unbelievable Ratio \| High % of Rebills \| Bi-Monthly Payments (also to E-Passporte) Ton's of EXCLUSIVE Free content & FHG's \|=> GREAT REVENUE $$$ GUARANTEED!

02-11-2005, 09:28 PM	#5
MrJackMeHoff Confirmed User Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: LOLLIPOP ISLAND =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Posts: 4,569	Suck on all that yummy mail mother fuckers! - Not that I have anything to do with it.. What do they expect to happen when they try to stop people from making money as they should be allowed to do. __________________ Last edited by MrJackMeHoff; 02-11-2005 at 09:30 PM..

02-11-2005, 09:30 PM	#6
cheapbulletproof Confirmed User Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 144	sucking all the way to your bank __________________ My sig was changed cause I don't know how to read the rules on this page http://www.gofuckyourself.com/gfy_faqs.html You can contact me about getting on as an advertiser - eric AT adult.com

02-01-2005, 10:57 AM	#2
Paco, of Large Cash. Confirmed User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: --> . <-- Posts: 2,267	lol ... you a funny girl.

02-11-2005, 09:31 PM	#7
cheapbulletproof Confirmed User Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 144	email taste better warm __________________ My sig was changed cause I don't know how to read the rules on this page http://www.gofuckyourself.com/gfy_faqs.html You can contact me about getting on as an advertiser - eric AT adult.com

02-11-2005, 10:50 PM	#9
Steen2 Confirmed User Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 7,662	cheapbp, are you not being sued by MS right now? __________________ ICQ: 2262.73945

02-11-2005, 10:56 PM	#10
Juicy D. Links So Fucking Banned Industry Role: Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: N.Y. -Long Island -- Posts: 122,992	If the US Govt was given 10k per year or so per spammer for licensing and shit and permission to send email, they wouldnt give a rats ass

02-11-2005, 11:20 PM	#11
smack Push Porn Like Weight. Industry Role: Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Inside .NET Posts: 10,652	just another case of over legislating something in a stupid and nonsensicle way. __________________ Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war.

02-11-2005, 11:56 PM	#14
Drake Hello world! Industry Role: Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 12,508	I don't see anything wrong with Can Spam itself. If people don't like the rules in it, try to change it. It's good to have rules for marketing. Eliminating email marketing altogether wouldn't be good. It's a great way to market legitimate things. Offshore unsolicited non-opt in spam operations are a completely unrelated phenomenon. You can't stop it, at least it doesn't appear to be something that can be stopped right now. Those operations aren't endorsed by legitimate email marketers and those who abide by Can Spam.