What is being done about Spam (or Spammers)?

[hech54]

Everything on the internet related to Spam is geared towards "What can you - THE VICTIM OF SPAM - do about Spam". Just like everything else in this world....the victims are left to defend themselves...often times having to at least go out of their way OR spend money to deal with someone elses stupidity or illegal activity.

Buy bottled water or a water purifier for your home so big companies can keep dumping raw sewage (or even worse) into the water supply.

Buy an extended warranty for a car from a company that refuses to build reliable cars. How long have cars been around? They can't get it right yet?

Why do I get the feeling this (Spam) is going to end up like the cure for cancer. Think about it. How long has mankind been searching for a cure for cancer? How long have drug companies been involved in finding a cure for cancer? Can you imagine the job losses involved if a cure for cancer is found? The same drug companies who are fighting tooth and nail to keep Americans(senior citizens mostly - and on fixed incomes) from going to Canada to get their prescriptions...where the prices are what?...HALF of what they are in America?

WE pay again....as usual. Is anyone even looking for Spammers?....doubt it.

[Capmaster]

Well thanks. I feel better about the world now

You're right, of course. Too many hidden agendas drive this world. And the bottom line is ....money. Simple. Once you start getting a taste for it, you'll do anything to keep the flow coming in.

Now that some spammers have made some money on the internet, and the word is out ....the genie is out of the bottle, and it's going to be damned hard to put her back in ...if it's even possible :P

[jimmalenko]

It is pleasing to mention that here in Australia, the government have passed strict laws regarding SPAM originating from Australian sources. We are hoping that the USA takes it on also, because we feel that this will greatly aid its infiltration across the rest of the world.

[handyguy]

Send them a 2gig file over a T4 line.

[rallynavvie]

My host uses greylisting to prevent spam. They've been offering it for a few months now and it's worked really well. When I combine that with the garbage filter on Netscape 7/Mozilla I pretty much only see email I want to see. It's free email services and not being careful that causes a lot of spam I think. Fortunately for me I can give myself a near-unlimited amount of POP addresses.

[hech54]

Well thanks. I feel better about the world now

You're right, of course. Too many hidden agendas drive this world. And the bottom line is ....money. Simple. Once you start getting a taste for it, you'll do anything to keep the flow coming in.

Now that some spammers have made some money on the internet, and the word is out ....the genie is out of the bottle, and it's going to be damned hard to put her back in ...if it's even possible :P

But how do they make money? Nobody actually clicks the links in these mails do they? Most people don't even SEE the e-mail thanks to spam filters..
Sorry about the bleak world outlook...

[jimmalenko]

I guess if 5% of all recipients actually do click the links then they have probably reached their target quota. If you send things to enough people, you'll do the sales eventually.

[Capmaster]

Hech54,

NP. I was being sarcastic. I think if people never did click them, they would have stopped spamming by now.

[gitreel]

The spammers ought to try this link.

www.Idonotgiveaflip.com

[hech54]

Hech54,

NP. I was being sarcastic. I think if people never did click them, they would have stopped spamming by now.

I just find it hard to believe that there are THAT many people who actually buy anything from a spam mail...but look at the success of info-mercials on TV.
Does someone actually make money on a successful e-mail?...meaning it is just a valid e-mail address?
Then they go to the client and say:
"Here...we sent your link to 10,000 valid e-mail addresses - pay us"

[ViRaL1]

Hech54,

NP. I was being sarcastic. I think if people never did click them, they would have stopped spamming by now.

I just find it hard to believe that there are THAT many people who actually buy anything from a spam mail...but look at the success of info-mercials on TV.
Does someone actually make money on a successful e-mail?...meaning it is just a valid e-mail address?
Then they go to the client and say:
"Here...we sent your link to 10,000 valid e-mail addresses - pay us"

I'm sure not all of the SPAM revenue comes from actual purchases so much as data mining and customer profiling. Maybe they buy, maybe they don't, but the information companies gather based on the clicks that they do get is somehow valuable and allows them to tailor future ads, emails etc. SPAM isn't quite the same as traditional advertising in the sense that it doesn't cost a spammer any more time or money to send an email to 5000 people than it does to send it to just one person. I do agree though that SPAM has gotten way out of control. What bugs me most about it is how insulting the whole idea of 99.9% of the SPAM messages I get are. I've seen subject lines ranging from 'You gotta check this out!!!' to '©iA£iS' to 'I seen you at the mall.' Just tell me what it is that you're selling and if I'm interested I'll look at it, otherwise you're just wasting your time and mine. Sometimes when I'm bored I'll actually send over 1000 unsubscribe requests from a linked site. I doubt anyone notices, but it takes the edge off.