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Spam Your Rights Online

Brad Templeton On Spam's Silver Anniversary 144

Posted by timothy from the silver-bullets-for-spammers dept.
Brad Templeton writes "This Saturday marks the 25th anniversary of the first spam I was able to find, and one month ago was the 10th anniversary of the first time a USENET posting was called a spam and the birth of the term (at least beyond mudds)." Templeton was also cited in the American Scientist article featured last Sunday.
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Brad Templeton On Spam's Silver Anniversary More

Brad Templeton On Spam's Silver Anniversary

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  • umm... (Score:2, Informative)

    by fjordboy ( 169716 )
    Actually, Spam [spam.com], has been around for over 100 years...just check the spam museum! [hormel.com]

    Hormel was started in 1891...way more than 25 years...in fact, last year the 6 billionth can of spam was made!

    • Re:umm... (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I didn't think Spam was Hormel's first product, though.

      • Re:umm... (Score:2, Redundant)

        by fjordboy ( 169716 )
        Yeah, you're right. Their first product would have been canned pork (I thought that was the same as spam)...spam came about in 1937 (proof [hormel.com]). My bad.

    • Re:umm... (Score:4, Informative)

      by fjordboy ( 169716 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2003 @06:56PM (#5848628) Homepage
      Whoops! It looks like 1937 is a more accurate date for the first spam. I should have checked the "Spam Spanning The Decades" [hormel.com] link first....

      But, that still makes spam 66 years old...that's a lot more than 25...

    • Re:umm... (Score:1, Funny)

      by obotics ( 592176 )
      Well, actually there has been reported to be a can of spam travelling at near light speed somewhere past the asteroid belt. Although to someone travelling with the spam it would only appear to be a couple of years old, it appears to be thousands of years old to us on Earth...
    • Actually, Spam [spam.com], has been around for over 100 years...just check the spam museum! [hormel.com]

      Actually, that would be, ahem, GNU/Spam [templetons.com].
    • My wife and daughter happened across the spam museum a few weeks ago and found that it included a recreation of the diner from the Monty Python skit including a TV which will play the skit for you (over and over, I presume :-).

      Obviously, Hormel has the good sense to see the humor in all this.

    • I think you meant to say SPAM [spam.com], in all caps. Quoth the site,

      We do not object to use of this slang term to describe UCE, although we do object to the use of our product image in association with that term. Also, if the term is to be used, it should be used in all lower-case letters to distinguish it from our trademark SPAM, which should be used with all uppercase letters.

  • one month anniversary (Score:3, Interesting)

    by SHEENmaster ( 581283 ) <travis@uUUUtk.edu minus threevowels> on Wednesday April 30, 2003 @06:54PM (#5848615) Homepage Journal
    of AOL blocking innocent mail servers just because they aren't on corporate IP blocks.
  • Yes! [templetons.com]
    • another interesting comment of RMS: "It has just been suggested that we impose someone's standards on us because otherwise he MIGHT do so. Well, if you feel that those standards are right and necessary, go right ahead and support them. But if you disagree with them, as I do, why hand your opponents the victory on a silver platter? By the suggested reasoning, we should always follow the political views that we don't believe in, and especially those of terrorists, in anticipation of their attempts to impose
  • He even wants to be spammed by online dating services! [templetons.com]

    Please insert your own "GNU/Spam" joke here.

    • 4) Would a dating service for people on the net be "frowned upon" by DMCA? I hope not. But even if it is, don't let that stop you from notifying me via net mail if you start one.

    • ... For you might just Get It.

      [Insert partial list of the 10 gazillions Internet dating services found by Yahoo alone].

      I hope that unearthing this ancient post will not make RMS lose his aura of geekness. What, he wanted to get laid? With all that code to write? Sheesh... What was he, a business major?

    • Definitely a troll. The very next message has RMS saying specifically that he "eats his words" and would definitely have disliked the spam.

  • ... marks the 2-day anniversary of the first SPAM* on /. about an article about the first SPAM.

    * often refered to a 'dupe'

    • Re:Today Also... (Score:4, Informative)

      by btempleton ( 149110 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2003 @07:14PM (#5848770) Homepage
      Not so much a dup as a mis-timing. I had been preparing an article about the 25th anniversary for my site and slashdot for a while as we came up to the date. The article was ready and somebody else wrote an article with some of that history, based in part on mine, which was already on the web, and it was put up not knowing my article was getting ready for release. However, there is enough new stuff in my history to have justified putting 'em both up.

  • I thought the immigration lawyers were the first (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Cantor and Siegel, I believe, back in 1994 was the first USENET spam... meaning 9 years ago. or am I mistaken, and there was an even earlier example?
    • ... I DO recall that the first email spam I got was an advertisement for an email spamming software package.

      I remember thinking "Oh, oh! There goes email!"

      And sure enough I had several ads within a couple weeks, and the volume has been ramping up ever since.

      I saved it all for a while. But my disk filled up and the saved spam was the big disk-eater, so I dumped it. (Probably should have saved the first few for posterity...)
    • Cantor and Siegel, I believe, back in 1994 was the first USENET spam... meaning 9 years ago. or am I mistaken, and there was an even earlier example?

      The earliest instance I could find (on groups.google.com) of the infamous Cantor and Siegel Green Card Lottery spam was posted 7 Feb, 1994.

      Sometime in the evening of 17 Jan, 1994, a chap by the name of Clarence Thomas sent out the "Global Alert For All: Jesus Coming Soon" message.

      Then of course there was the Dave Rhodes "MAKE.MONEY.FAST" post. I couldn't

  • 1937: The Birth of Spam (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Spam was born in 1937. Originally called "Hormel Spiced Ham", the new "catchy" name was the result of a contest, the winner of which earned $100!

    For more, see www.spam.com!

  • Simpsons (Score:4, Funny)

    by m.e.l.l.e.n.t.i.n.e ( 305369 ) <jared.mellentine@com> on Wednesday April 30, 2003 @07:07PM (#5848725)
    His story reminds me of how Abe Simpson (Grandpa Simpson) tells stories...

    "I needed a new heel for my shoe. So, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days nickels had pictures of bumblebees on them. 'Give me five bees for a quarter', you'd say. Now, where were we? Oh, yeah...the important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have white onions because of the war; the only thing you could get was those big yellow ones..."

  • So.. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by CausticWindow ( 632215 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2003 @07:12PM (#5848761)

    What do you think Hormel thinks about this mess? All publicity is good publicity? I don't think so. I haven't bought a can of Spam for the last three years. Guess why.

    I'll tell you their lawyers are constantly tearing their hair out, for not slapping Monty Python with a cease and desist, all those years ago. Now do you understand people like American Greetings? If they don't defend their trademarks, they might end up as the next Spam. What would you do if your trademark for the last hundred years, suddenly were smeared into oblivion by greedy net users all over the world?

    • You don't buy meat (or something that closely resembles meat) because its a synonym to unsolicited email?

      Would it be safe to guess you live in a house (or closet, or cave) with only doors too?

      • Ok, so they're caught in the crossfire. An innocent bystander if you wish, but by not buying into spam, I make a strong personal statement.

        You can post your anti-spam sentiment to slashdot all you want, but it won't change anything in the real world. Only statements like mine will have a real effect.

        • Ok, so they're caught in the crossfire. An innocent bystander if you wish, but by not buying into spam, I make a strong personal statement.

          You can post your anti-spam sentiment to slashdot all you want, but it won't change anything in the real world. Only statements like mine will have a real effect.

          You have GOT to be a troll. "Strong personal statement"?! What are you really saying "Hormel should fight junk emails, and until they eliminate them, I will punish Hormel."

          "An innocent bystander" is putti
        • You actually believe it will do anything?

          I'll stop eating snickers to prevent SARS!

          bleh.

          • While snickers and sars are totally unrelated products, spam and SPAM have quite a lot in common. Like the name, for example.

            • While snickers and sars are totally unrelated products, spam and SPAM have quite a lot in common. Like the name, for example.


              How can "snickers" and "sars" be totally unrelated when they both start and end with the letter s. There just has to be a connection...

    • Re:So.. (Score:1, Redundant)

      by tfinniga ( 555989 )

      I haven't bought a can of Spam for the last three years. Guess why.

      Because it's nasty?
      That's why I don't buy any..

      • It's actually quite tasty. Especially the jelly it comes packaged with. I know it's a petroleum conservative, but it tastes real good if you sprinkle your (home baked) pizza with it.

    • Re:So.. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by silentbozo ( 542534 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2003 @07:44PM (#5848981) Journal
      Actually, the last time Spam was on sale at the local supermarket, I went and bought a bunch (low-sodium, fries up well, and tastes great with rice.) Even though I'm rabidly anti-spam (anti-uce), I have a very positive attitude toward Hormel. They're smart enough to understand that Spam, the meat product, is very different from spam, the generic term for junk e-mail/usenet postings. Moreover, they've delineated what is permissible in terms of using "spam" to refer to junk e-mail - no use of the Hormel logo, using spam vs. Spam (tm). I think their courtesy should be repaid with an equal dose of courtesy from the community. Hurrah for Hormel!

      • Re:So.. (Score:2)

        by Emrys ( 7536 )
        Actually, they require spam (for UCE) vs. SPAM (tm). And yeah, it's only fair we go along, since they've been such good sports, despite the association between their brand and such a despicable group of sub-humans.

        http://www.spam.com/ci/ci_in.htm
      • And they make great chili (with beans)!

        <PFRRRT!>

        Sorry about that ;->
      • Is McDonalds in Hawaii still serving Spam for breakfast [bizjournals.com]? That sounds like a good meal to start the day! (In Canada they added "heathy" greenie stuff to their menu. If I wanted healthy, I doubt I'd eat there to start with. Come to think of it, I don't.)
      • Spam ... (low-sodium

        So, I'm assuming you mean you bought the low-sodium version. The regular version has more sodium per serving than regular iodized salt. The low-sodium version doesn't, but IIRC it's not that far away.
    • Have you developed a sudden phobia of gelatin encased mystery meat in the last 3 years? That explains why I haven't bought any in the last 20 years (at least).
    • Guess why.
      I haven't bought a can in as long as I can remember because I don't like Spam.

      It tastes like a bad imitation of a so-called "Danish" ham wich is made of various chunks of ham scraps and gelatin. I guess that makes Spam a bad immitation of a second-rate retred ham.

      There may be some new hope though:

      Has anyone tried "Roast Turkey" or Barbeque Spam? Is it any good?

    • Re:So.. (Score:1, Funny)

      by Catnapster ( 531547 )
      I don't buy Spam, but not because that's what we call unsolicited business e-mail. I don't buy Spam because it tastes like shit.
    • They explain it pretty well here. [spam.com]

  • Scary part... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Mullen ( 14656 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2003 @07:23PM (#5848827)
    You know the scary part about this, is that he probably got 20 extra people to show up and made a sale off of the first spam.

    Spam is here because it works. Worked back then, works today. If it did not work, there would be no spam.
    • War and Murder are here because it works. WOrked back then, work today. If they did not work, there would be no War and Murder.

      Doesn't mean we should not try to stop War and Murder.
    • You know the scary part about this, is that he probably got 20 extra people to show up and made a sale off of the first spam.

      I note that the big gripe was that it was commercial speech on the ARPAnet, at a time when it was restricted to research projects. (This despite the fact that such a product announcement, intrusive as bulk eamil was, might actually have been consered "news" rather than a mere advertisement.)

      Of course that changed with the legislation that got Al Gore his rep for "claiming to inven
    • All there needs to be for spam to exist is people that think it works. It may be the spammer himself or someone paying for his "marketing services", but nothing else is needed. Sure, if it doesn't work they might get discouraged and quit - but then another idiot might come along.

      I'm not saying that spam doesn't work - with so many morons out there, it's certainly possible. But arguing that it wouldn't exist if it didn't work is stupid.
      • but then another idiot might come along

        Might? I'm sure the supply of idiots is vast, if not limitless. (And if they run out, I'm sure that no one will complain when they chop the last one down.)

  • Read Richard Stallmans view on spam also mentioned in the article [templetons.com]
    He also predicts the first online dating service!!!!!

  • Hold on a sec (Score:4, Informative)

    by bughunter ( 10093 ) <[ten.knilhtrae] [ta] [retnuhgub]> on Wednesday April 30, 2003 @07:26PM (#5848845) Journal
    I distinctly remember the original meaning of 'spam' in a computer context: to fill an inbox or newsgroup with a flood of identical messages. That's how the infamous Monty Python Flying Circus sketch was able to lend its name to the practice.

    Somehow, somewhere along the way, the term was applied to unsolicited commercial email, and the original meaning was more or less forgotten. Besides, the practice of flooding peoples' inboxes doesn't really happen that way very much anymore.

    • Besides, the practice of flooding peoples' inboxes doesn't really happen that way very much anymore.

      bughunter@earthlink.net

      Let's test that theory :)

  • Quote from Canter&Siegel (Score:3, Informative)

    by CausticWindow ( 632215 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2003 @07:29PM (#5848882)

    The parents of the original Usenet spam, a lawfirm promoting a "green card lottery" (and I thougt those were a new invention), wrote in their book about online advertising:

    "From that day forward, the Internet never stopped discussing us... After lengthy deliberation, it was decided to call the practice 'spamming' in honor of a well-known skit by Monty Python's Flying Circus, the famous British comedy group. We were unfamiliar with the skit, but apparently it involved throwing lunch meat at a wall."

    Humourless lawyers.. they'll be the first against the wall when we take the us.

  • Heres what Hormel has to say on the subject of spam [spam.com].

  • "junk mail" (Score:5, Informative)

    by raduga ( 216742 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2003 @07:33PM (#5848907)
    The earliest posting I can find on the whole of Google's cache [slashdot.org] has this curious subject:

    the end is near [google.com] .

    I think there should not be any individual copies of human-nets or any of the "junk-mail" messages sent or stored on any machine at Berkeley. That there are multiple copies of this sent to individuals from Ernie to Cory and perhaps elsewhere is not permissible. I think that "getting flak from users" is not the way to guide system development. I suggest that individual names be removed from these lists immediately. If the ethernet changes things so that sending messages is free and fast, they can be put back on.

    This is especially critical right now because all of the printers on CSVAX are down, and people are jamming the 1200 baud network link to cory with printouts. There is no excuse for duplicate traffic under such circumstances.

  • While the new legislation and things to come regarding the spam situation are great, I just wanted to point out that it's such an easy stance for a politician to take and it would be a lot more fulfilling to see our government focusing on more important things and leaving the spam to the sys/netadmins of the world to combat. I wonder what the situation would be if spammers had more of an "influence" in Washington or if our politicians had more to gain from the spam industry...
    • You have to be careful when saying "spammers". There's the spammers like Al Ralsky, who have no political pull, and then there's the Direct Media Advertising lobby which does. What's the difference? The DMA defines what they do as "not spam".

      The DMA wants laws that outlaw the penis-pill spammers, while preserving the utility of your inbox as an advertising medium for their targeted important message, and outlaw any filtering/blocking of that message. (In other words, they want to allow their main-sleeze sp

  • Templeton makes a good case for the word "spam" starting out as MUD jargon. But he never really explains (at least to my satisfaction) why MUDers used the word that way. Were they all Python fans?

    Amusing to discover that the earliest documented Spam message originated at cup.portal.com. That site was responsible for my first bout of Usenet addiction -- mercifully cut short when I acquired an obsessive stalker who took exception to my criticism of David Brin. The site was the only enterprise of a company c

    • It's funny, there is a MUD client named Portal (http://gameaxle.com/)
    • The "spam" term came from MUDs (and BBS I guess) because "spamming" a MUD is to fill the screen when you chat. Just like on IRC or other chat services.
      • You still haven't answered my question. What does verbosity or a full screen have to do with salty canned meat?

        • Re:Oh, almost forgot (Score:5, Informative)

          by panda ( 10044 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2003 @10:54PM (#5850068) Homepage Journal
          > You still haven't answered my question. What does verbosity or a full screen have to do with salty canned meat?

          Nothing, except that Monty Python's Flying Circus did a skit where a modern, normal-looking guy goes into a restaurant full of 10th C. Viking customers and a lady (played by a guy in drag) behind the counter. He asks for something to eat, I forget what. He's told that he can get "Spam, eggs and spam, or spam, spam, and spam." After some discussion that goes nowhere, the Vikings break out into a chant of "Spam! Spam! Spam! Spam-ity spam!" They repeat this chant over and over until it drowns out everything else going on in the scene.

          The idea is that screen flooding becomes like the Vikings chanting "Spam." Nothing else goes on because nobody else can get a word in edgewise over the racket.
          • After some discussion that goes nowhere, the Vikings break out into a chant of "Spam! Spam! Spam! Spam-ity spam!" They repeat this chant over and over until it drowns out everything else going on in the scene.

            Does anyone know the story behind that skit - was it some sort of English/European regional joke, like the idiots with kerchiefs on their heads?

            Seeing how spam is so big in Hawaii (because meat is pretty expensive, and pork is a polynesian favorite) an american remake of the skit would possibly be

  • templetons ideas on stopping spam.. (Score:3, Informative)

    by dubbreak ( 623656 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2003 @08:11PM (#5849192)
    ..are interesting. Basically all mail would still be delivered in his utopian email system but all untrusted sources would be throttled.
    Worth a read [templetons.com] imho.
  • RMS options when looking for a date:

    1) shave beard
    2) start first online dating service

    i won't say which one he chose...

  • It's a historic address list (Score:3, Interesting)

    by selan ( 234261 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2003 @08:18PM (#5849229) Journal
    You can read the original spam email [templetons.com] on Templeton's site. The list of addressees is like a directory of the early net, including addresses like KLEINROCK at USC-ISI and POSTEL@USC-ISIB. I wonder how many spam harvesters will find these addresses and try to send them mail, now that they've been posted to the web :).
  • ...which I have been studding for many years...


    You have the best job!
  • I've just figured out where I remember Brad Templeton from. Many years ago he started a business called ClariNet, which sold syndicated content over Usenet. On his site, Templeton boasts of ClariNet as the "first dot com company." I'm not sure this is something to be proud of. But ClariNet was the first company to use the Internet (or rather proto-Internet networks) to help connect obscure writers and cartoonists with a broader audience.

    One of these was Scott Adams. Nowadays, every single paper in the U.S

    • No, Dilbert was already doing quite well when I picked it up, though it had not reached today's astronomical success and become an Industry unto itself yet. Scott was still living in the Bay Area, and still working for Pac Bell at the time.

      One thing I did observe about Dilbert to Scott was that part of its appeal was that it was one of the few comics to make fun of not just high-tech but modern office life. There are other office comics -- Cathy, Sally Forth, even Blondie, but none attack the office the
      • Ok guy, explain a couple of things, please.

        First, I needer a fuller explanation of the origin of the word "spam". I buy your explanation that it comes from the MUD community. But I still don't understand the connection between dataflooding and spiced meat. Are all MUD people Python fans?

        Second, how does a Leading Computer Pioneer find time to hang out on Slashdot?

        • Re:Two explanations demanded (Score:5, Informative)

          by btempleton ( 149110 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2003 @10:14PM (#5849905) Homepage
          I'm a unix geek like the rest of you.

          The mudder's use is not recorded, of course, as far as I have found. Simply reports from mudders say that when people started flooding a mud with text, and later objects, somebody called it spamming. From the Monty Python, because the vikings keep repeating the word over and over and over again.

          I have conflicting stories on the first use, but without logs we may never know.
          • I have conflicting stories on the first use, but without logs we may never know.

            The version I heard/read is that someone created an listening object in a MUD "room" that was designated as a "beach".

            If someone entered the room and said the word "spam", all occupants of the room would experience a flood of text describing a boat full of Vikings landing on the beach, chanting "spam, spam, etc.".

            Is it the definitive story? I dunno. But, it fits with what I remember from that period.

            • Is it the definitive story? I dunno. But, it fits with what I remember from that period.
              It's certainly the best explanation I've ever heard. Thank you! Your story doesn't prove anything but it does make me feel slightly less frustrated.
              • The following is hearsay, of course. I have no transcripts, but I do know some people who could probably back me up.

                The year was 1984. I was a freshman at RPI [rpi.edu], busily ruining my life by not going to class and spending all my time in night mode on MTS [umich.edu], the local timesharing system. One of the most popular ways for me to waste time was by using CZSC:CB [sourceforge.net], a primitive chat room type of thing. One night I was experiencing a craving for cheese, and started babbling about it on the channels. Nobody seemed to pa

  • who is right? Templeton or the American Scientist? (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Tha American Scientist article [americanscientist.org] claims that the event that first popularized the term "spam" was the simultaneous posting by the Phoenix law firm of Canter & Siegel to 6,000 Usenet news groups of a message with the subject heading "Green Card Lottery - Final One?" (in April 1994). But Brad Templeton has a VERY different story if he is saying here that spam will be 25 years old next Saturday - not nine. ("The earliest documented junk e-mailing I've uncovered was sent May 3, 1978 -- 25 years ago this Satur

    • Re:who is right? Templeton or the American Scienti (Score:4, Informative)

      by btempleton ( 149110 ) on Wednesday April 30, 2003 @09:35PM (#5849677) Homepage
      The Green Card Lawyer spam was indeed was caused the term to really take off, but it was in use before their posting. People pay attention to Canter & Siegel (instead of giving them the footnote of obscurity they deserve) because they had such bravado about it. Other early massive posters, including jj@portal.com and the Jesus is coming poster had turned tail and run when they faced criticism. C&S met it head on, and that got people really angry.

      And thus the term really grew. But theirs was not the first spam, not the first to be called a spam, not even the first big spam. It was the first for a new level of anger.
      • It's been a long time, and I don't have anything to back up my memory, so bear with me.

        The others you mentioned were more confined than Green Card. Also, Green Card was multiposted, not cross-posted.

        However, we (the denizens of Usenet) did shut down Green Card's ISP-- within hours of the spam, if my memory of the night serves. (I can tell you which terminal of which terminal room I was at.) The ISP was deluged with complaints. They had to upgrade their mailserver, and I seem to recall them having to of

        • The ISP was indeed shut down, just from the load. This is not something to be proud of, the ISP was entirely innocent in all of this and suffered quite a bit. There was no reason for "them to get the message." They were the victims, not the perps. Especially then, before spam was common. Any ISP could have been victimized in this way. Later, a lot of sympathy came out for the ISP after people felt some guilt over what they had done to the ISP.

          Sadly, we continue to blame the ISPs for the actions of

          • Yes, of course. The "got the message" line was left over from an edit and should have been deleted; I didn't mean to imply that the ISP deserved it or anything of the kind. Of course ISPs are often the biggest victims of spam, and (as recent actions show) are sometimes the ones most likely to fight it.

            Regarding cross vs multiposting: I had an impression of a memory of Green Card angering me more than anything else I had seen, in a large part because of the multiposting. I didn't think that the "Jesus" s

  • A bit OT, but at 9:15 pm Eastern there is a forum on Spam on CSPAN2. I'm not sure who the panelists are but I thought people here might be interested.
  • No this isn't a return of the Recipie Troll. (-:

    Here's mine [teemings.com]

  • Plug your email address into Google [google.com]. Sometimes, however hard you try - it still ends up on the internet.

    My biggest beef is with people who put emails you send up on the website with no thought to actually helping you avoid being crawled. For example - the perl maintainers. I posted an email from work to them pointing out a bug, they stuck it up on a website without removing my email address and some crawler got it and started sending me (at work) all sorts of spam.

    I requested repeatidly that they either

  • In Australia...to solve the problem of underaged drinking, the govt brought in laws that not only the club owner was fined, but the bar person that served the drink was also fined (personally, up to $15k)...so, my thought is, if we say we can fine the ppl that send the spam, and we can fine the companies that hire the spammers...why don't ppl suggest fining the programmer that _wrote_ the software. It's a lot easier to pin down (not all programmers are going to move to an offshore haven to write the softwa
  • There is a spammobile that goes to events giving out free spam! I got my picture taken with it when I was in Charlotte, NC

    Click here to see the pic [sirinek.com]

  • Brad Templeton has previously argued that unsolicited email falls under the free speech rights enumerated by the US Constitution, and that sending UBE/UCE is legal [google.com]. He also stated, "The free speech rights on ONE SINGLE PERSON outweigh the speech-prohibition rights of 49,999,999 others. [google.com]"

    Interestingly, about six years later, spam costs US businesses an estimated $9B per year [usatoday.com], including costs for increased hardware and software to handle the load, and has been estimated by the EU to globally cost recipients [eu.int]

  • This anniversary of Spam is really not important. If someone wanted to be clever, they would go out and find the anniversary of the first Nigerian Bank Scam.

    M


  • You youngsters don't remember anything. RFC706 [faqs.org] "On the Junk Mail Problem" was published in Nov 1975. Spam was already a problem only 4 years after RFC196, which was the original Mail Box Protocol which had no authentication.

  • NPR did a spot [npr.org] on this on Friday.

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