Student Faces Suspension For Spamming Profs 516
edmicman sends word of a Fox News report about a Michigan State University student who is facing suspension for bulk emailing a number of professors at the university about a proposed change to the school calendar — an e-mail that the university is labeling spam. The article contains links to a copy of the original email, the allegations against the student, and the university's Email Acceptable Use Policy. The student, Kara Spencer, asked a Philadelphia rights organization, FIRE, to get involved. The article quotes the FIRE defense program director: "The fact that MSU is considering punishment of Spencer simply for exercising her right to contact selected faculty members by e-mail shows a disturbing disregard for students' freedom of expression. ... Threatening a member of the student government with suspension for sending relevant, timely e-mails to faculty members is outrageous." Spencer is awaiting the school's judgement after a hearing, and vows to take to the courts if suspended.
Mass mailing (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
I was thinking auto-dialler running around the clock to everyone on campus, heck, why not call the whole town?
Re:Mass mailing (Score:5, Insightful)
Spam is:
Unsolicited,
Bulk,
Commercial email.
It is not solicited email of any kind, it is not personal email of any kind, and it is not non-commercial email. A local school emailing your entire neighborhood to tell them that the school is closed due to snow is annoying, but it is not spam. A teenager who emails a chain letter to your entire domain is annoying, but it is not spam.
This was (barely) bulk, and it was mostly unsolicited. It was not, however, commercial and thus it was not spam.
Re:Mass mailing (Score:5, Informative)
While UBC/UCE* is indeed spam, I'd say that the chain letter is INDEED SPAM as well.
Google's [google.com] list of definitions.
Unsolicited Email, like electronic junk mail ... ...
Unwanted, usually advertisement email. Spam are usually sent in bulk and the recipient addresses are obtained by illegal means (eg by tapping the network communication).
Spam is the term widely used for unsolicited e-mail; spam is also referred to as junk mail. Spam is usually sent indiscriminately to hundreds or even hundreds of thousands of inbox's simultaneously.
Spamming is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to indiscriminately send unsolicited bulk messages.
A collection of unsolicited bulk electronic messages; Any undesired electronic content automatically-generated for commercial purposes; (rare) An unsolicited electronic message sent in bulk, usually by email or newsgroups; Alternative form of SPAM; : To send spam (i.e. unsolicited electronic
An obnoxious practice of mass advertising to clients through e-mail, IRC, a browser, or any other communication device.
Basically, UBC is SPAM, but SPAM isn't necessarily UBC.
*Unsolicited Commercial Email
Re:Mass mailing (Score:5, Insightful)
no, while most spam is commercial, it doesn't have to be. i.e. "commercial" is NOT one of the defining attributes of spam. "unsolicited" and "bulk" are. spam is not about content, it is about consent.
e.g there is political spam, religious spam, and chain-letter spam.
if your example local school sent their notification to an opt-in list of people who wanted such notifications then it would not be spam. if, however, they sent it to everyone in the neighbourhood (or just to every parent) without first receiving a subscription request or obtaining prior consent then it would be spam.
a teenager who sends a chain letter to your entire domain IS spam, as well as annoying.
the student's email that this article about may or may not be spam. there isn't enough detail in the article to tell for sure.
if she sent it to an existing staff list at the university which ordinarily allows students to email staff then it certainly would not be spam.
if she constructed her own list then it might be spam. in any other context it certainly would be spam, but students DO have an implicit right to contact their teachers which makes it a grey area rather than clear cut.
if she repeatedly sent email to her self-constructed list in order to harrass or cause annoyance or disruption of mail service then it would be mail-bombing (a form of DoS) rather than spam.
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I consider this spam. She sent this to almost 400 instructors. When I went I had maybe 25 instructors.
If it was something that she believed was relevant to all instructors, then it doesn't seem like spam. 400 is hardly an outlandish number when discussing email.
Now it appears that she did violate the school's email policies, but those policies seem extremely conservative. One of the things she was writing about was the very limited time to comment on the issues that she was addressing. The email policies seem to contribute to that problem. So yeah, she violated the policies. She'll have to face the con
Re:Mass mailing (Score:5, Informative)
Not quite [spamhaus.org]:
Chain letters are absolutely spam. If I didn't ask for it, and I don't want it, and there's nothing specifically relevant to me in the email, then it is spam. What do I care if it's commercial or not? It still takes the same amount of space in my inbox, and the same amount of effort to get rid of.
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If you read the disciplinary notice linked in the article, you'll see that the Acceptable Use Policy of this particular school indeed forbid Unsolicited, Bulk emailing (which the school calls "spam").
Per the school policy, what she did was forbidden.
Her defense is not about her interpretation of the policy (she knows what she did is a violation of the policy), but about the fact that this policy should be illegal.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
OK here's the skinny.
Michigan State defines SPAM in this policy
http://lct.msu.edu/guidelines-policies/bulkemail.html [msu.edu]
Upper limit 'Short time frames' are defined as 2 days.
It then goes to state right after the definition:
Re:Mass mailing (Score:5, Informative)
Appropriate response in this case would simply be a warning 'email' and a remedial course in the schools acceptable use 'guidelines' and policies.
Actually, the netadmin sent her an e-mail saying something to the effect of "this is against the rules, please stop", and her response was (again paraphrasing) "no, I'll do it again if I want to, and I dare you to do anything about it". Well, guess what... he did something. She tried to be a hero, despite being in the wrong, and it didn't turn out well.
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Guidelines Regarding Bulk E-mailing by Internal Users on MSUnet [msu.edu]
Computer System and Network Abuse at Michigan State University [msu.edu]
The policy in itself utterly fails as it most improperly fails to ascribe particular levels of punishments for the degree of infringement.
Really?
From: Michigan State University Acceptable Use of Computing Systems, Software, and the University Digital Network [msu.edu]
V. Enforcement and Adjudication
1. The principal responsibility for investigation of suspected non-compliance with the provisions of this ruling rests with System Sponsors. At their discretion, they may delegate it to System Managers and/or Facility Staff
Re:Mass mailing (Score:5, Insightful)
No that would be ineffective. Clearly the proper course of action is to contact the media so millions of uninvolved strangers can mock the university for such stupefying misapplication of policy.
Interestingly, it seems as a student government representative she was fulfilling her duties by attempting to negotiate change between students and faculty. Her email was well written, clear and concise.
I fail to see how the university can justify any reprisal.
Re:Mass mailing (Score:5, Funny)
The only job of student government in any university is to plan parties. Good for her for trying to do more.
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Back in the day. The students had problems with student government spamming the students. I was always trying to fight it. But they are convinced that the information was important (Like reporting a snow day class cancelation at 9:30am (after have walked back from my 8:30 class covered with snow, realizing it was canceled) ) But the most of it was X type of Party Here, Y party there. Z club is doing B. Sometimes in the middle they may toss some useful information like if you plan on graduating please get
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If you had email back in the day, then by definition that wasn't back in the day.
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Haven't worked much in the uni environment have you? Grumpy old men shouting "Get off my lawn" seem welcoming compared to the grizzly bear attitude of a tenured professor who feels their authority has been challenged.
Re:Mass mailing (Score:5, Insightful)
Civil disobedience is fine, IMO. Have at it, but don't come blubbering when Mr. Consequence arrives to the party.
I thought that was the point of civil disobedience, that you showed the world the injustice by suffering through the situation in a more public way.
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Um, what?
The whole point of civil disobedience is to draw the consequences onto yourself and bring the issue to light so it can be stepped on and killed. The "blubbering" - as you so childishly put it - is directed at the original wrong, not the consequence! It's part of the process.
That's stupid. (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm really sick of replies like this:
Civil disobedience is fine, IMO. Have at it, but don't come blubbering when Mr. Consequence arrives to the party.
This is a canned comment that tools make on any given story about someone standing up to establishment stupidity. This is the same attitude that southerners commonly took towards blacks protesting fucked up laws. Now, I'm not saying that her cause is anywhere near the same level of fighting jim crow and southern racism in general, BUT, if you look at how civil disobediance in the south(and elsewhere) actually works, you'll see that the "blubbering" about the consquences IS PART OF IT. THAT'S HOW CHANGE IS ACHIEVED AGAINST STUPID POLICIES.
You have to not only disobey stupid policies, but then you have to whine bitch and moan about the consequences it if you want them changed and if you want a just resolution. THAT'S PART OF THE PROCESS OF CIVIL DISOBEDIANCE. You don't do that last part, you end up a door mat of the system, rather than someone who forces it to change.
Re:Mass mailing (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Mass mailing (Score:5, Insightful)
The university dilemma:
-If the students can disrupt the system, then the administration has failed to do its job.
-If the students can't disrupt the system, then the professors have failed to do their jobs.
This case is nothing new. The university had a policy and had good reasons for that policy. A student broke the policy and had good reasons for breaking that policy. Student gets called for judicial review. If she can defend her actions, nothing happens. If she can't, she gets disciplined. Either way, nobody is walking away with any scars...there is no way she's getting the boot for this.
Neither party is doing anything wrong here, and the process generally works fairly well.
Re:Mass mailing (Score:5, Informative)
RTFA! It is alleged that the student violated the policy. However, reading the policy, there is a clause that specifically permits bulk emailing communications regarding changes to university policies of procedures. There is room to interpret that as permission to bulk email about the changed academic calendar.
However, it is premature to cry foul yet as there has been no ruling on the matter. For all we know, it'll be dismissed with no action at all.
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Except her email wasn't an [informative] communication about the changes, it was a [personal and political] protest against the changes. As other have pointed out, the former is specifically permitte
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Yes, she was most definitely doing her job. To help students and faculty agree on the properness of university policies and programs is what student government is all about. Michigan State University has shown what it thinks of its students in general, and this one in particular. I would never advise anyo
Re:Mass mailing (Score:5, Insightful)
To help students and faculty agree on the properness of university policies and programs is what student government is all about.
Really? I thought it was about giving the ambitious and meddlesome a chance to hone their people-annoying skills while padding their resumes.
Re:Mass mailing (Score:5, Insightful)
I disagree with your characterization. MSU had never, until that point, enforced the policy even on actual spam and hacking activities. They enforced it the moment someone disagreed with a faculty position. One of the professors got bent out of shape by being confronted with discord from a student (the temerity!).
There's no blubbering here, just righteous defiance. Remember, she insisted that charges be brought against her.
Gotta give her credit for standing up for herself. Furthermore, it was only one professor out of some four thousand who registered a complaint. Apparently this wasn't a big problem for the faculty at all ... just for the Administration.
That Lou what's-her-name President of the school will probably end up regretting this. She wanted to make a clear statement to the students: do what we tell you, and don't try to get the faculty on your side.. Instead, they ran up against someone who wouldn't cave when threatened. Now they're going to have to put up or shut up. Not only that, but if Ms. Spencer sticks to her guns, they may end up having a Federal judge tell them where to stick their email policies.
Re:Mass mailing (Score:5, Informative)
MSU's anti-spam policy is clearly unconstitutional (see blog post at http://www.thefire.org/index.php/article/10012.html [thefire.org]).
Adam Kissel
Director, Individual Rights Defense Program
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
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Re:Mass mailing (Score:5, Insightful)
An opinion blog or forum opinion does not determine constitutionality.
<nitpick>
Not so. Anyone can determine constitutionality by examining a law, and the constitution, and telling you whether or not it violates the constitution. Now, that won't save your ass in court, but to say that the only valid judge of constitutionality is the courts is not only wrong, but against the spirit in which our nation was founded (that the people should keep the government in check).
</nitpick>
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Grafitti? (Score:3, Interesting)
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I'm not qualified as a doctor. My opinion on whether someone is alive or not might not carry legal weight and I would have no authority to sign a death certificate.
However, if I observed that someone had been decapitated, my opinion that he was in a non-viable state would be correct.
Holding a qualification or being appointed to a positi
That brings up an interesting question... (Score:4, Interesting)
Back in the day on Usenet, spam was more than just 'unsolicited commercial e-mail', it was pretty much any post that was cross-posted and off-topic.
So why do so many of us nowadays seem to equate spam with only 'unsolicited commercial e-mail'? In my mind, spam is any piece of unwanted bulk mail, whether it is 'commercial' in nature or not.
Because in the US (Score:3, Insightful)
It is legally much easier to regulate commercial speech. If you want any sort of anti-spam law, your best bet is there.
Re:That brings up an interesting question... (Score:5, Insightful)
That's a pretty wide brush. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Call the waaaaamulance. (Score:5, Interesting)
>Unless there are policies that say that this isn't allowed. The University has policies for distributing information, and this person ignored those policies.
Well no shit, sherlock. Of course the University is going to try and control the flow of information concerning unpopular policy changes.
Such attempts at control SHOULD BE ignored and thwarted.
The university was trying to pull a fast policy change. This girl alerted everyone to it using the most efficient, straight-forward technique available. I don't care if the university "has policies" for damage contro....er for distributing information. What she did was right.
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Back in the day on Usenet, spam was more than just 'unsolicited commercial e-mail', it was pretty much any post that was cross-posted and off-topic.
That's not spam [wikipedia.org], that's a troll [wikipedia.org].
So why do so many of us nowadays seem to equate spam with only 'unsolicited commercial e-mail'?
Because that's what spam is - see the wiki link. Of course, you don't have to email to spam, [wikipedia.org] posting a gratituous, offtopic link to your blog is "board spam". But the subject here is email spam.
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So why do so many of us nowadays seem to equate spam with only 'unsolicited commercial e-mail'? In my mind, spam is any piece of unwanted bulk mail, whether it is 'commercial' in nature or not.
"I didn't want to read that. You just spammed me." Wow... we've certainly come a long way from "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
So why do so many of us nowadays seem to equate spam with only 'unsolicited commercial e-mail'? In my mind, spam is any piece of unwanted bulk mail, whether it is 'commercial' in nature or not.
Probably because it is by far the most prevalent and annoying form of spam and because it is clearly definable. Off-topic can be somewhat subjective, commercial and unsolicited are much more objective.
I read her entire email (Score:5, Interesting)
it's linked in the news article. It was well written, not off topic, and expressed a reasonable concern about the time period students have to get to know the school apparently. It was not "spam" at all.
It sounds like the professors are more butthurt she got their email addresses than interested in responding to the concern she expressed.
They simply should have redirected her appeal to the right people if it was not appropriate to be sent via that email list. Instead they are being punative.
Re:I read her entire email (Score:5, Interesting)
If you also read the complaint, it is alleged that she was instructed the correct way to send the message and refused to do so. The compliant makes it sound like she was in a pissing contest with the network administrator. Not a good person to piss off if you want to send email.
"the student was informed of the proper procedures to follow and flatly refused to obtain proper permissions stating that she would continue to send emails out and demanded that I file charges against her."
sounds like she wanted some publicity to go with her spam.
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"the student was informed of the proper procedures to follow and flatly refused to obtain proper permissions stating that she would continue to send emails out and demanded that I file charges against her."
Speaking as someone who does in his day job occasionally sue people - anyone specifically asking for it is... well, asking for it.
And that was the correct response, too. (Score:5, Insightful)
If a "network administrator" told me I could not email all the faculty and staff at a university I was paying to attend concerning a change in university policy that affects everyone, I'd tell them to go piss up a rope, too.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
She wasn't e-mailing them about "a change in university policy that affects everyone". She was e-mailing them about why said change was a Bad Idea(TM), and apparently they didn't care to read her editorial column.
Wrong. (Score:4, Informative)
Whatever her opinion on the matter was, she WAS emailing the faculty about a change in university policy that affects everyone.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I believe the appropriate response would have been to politely agree with the netadmin and perform the process he describes.
Then post on Craiglist for someone to assist in an email distribution test.
Let someone else run your spam ;)
-Rick
Re:I read her entire email (Score:5, Interesting)
If you also read the complaint, it is alleged that she was instructed the correct way to send the message and refused to do so. The compliant makes it sound like she was in a pissing contest with the network administrator. Not a good person to piss off if you want to send email.
Yes, many school administrators have the opinion that their department policy is teh law, regardless of what the student may have signed or what the university guidelines actually state.
For example, I knew someone at my university who registered a domain name to his dorm room computer. He got an email from the campus security admin telling him that was against university policy, and to take it down. The only thing the machine was serving was an image of the domain name, but he immediately did as requested. Then the student checked the universities guidelines on network usage, but was unable to find any policy on registering a domain to a campus ip address. The student asked the security admin to point out where this policy was written down. The security admin responded by trying to get the student suspended from the school.
Happens because most students just roll over (Score:3, Interesting)
I was part of a group of concerned students who decided to write the ACLU and ask about the legality of the college's actions. We wrote the letter, but then decided it would look better if it was cosigned by the student council. Of course that brought the existence of letter out into the op
Re:I read her entire email (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I read her entire email (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems almost obvious that she's being prosecuted simply because she made the provost look stupid.
If any student can use mailing lists like this to challenge the provost so effectively... imagine the mayhem!!
Re:I read her entire email (Score:4, Interesting)
Spam is unsolicited bulk email, regardless of whether or not it is well written, relevant, or reasonable.
It sounds like the professors are more butthurt she got their email addresses
That is the whole point, she got their email addresses and sent them spam.
They simply should have redirected her appeal to the right people if it was not appropriate to be sent via that email list. Instead they are being punative.
I agree with you here, but according to TFA, when they did this she refused and vowed to repeat her actions. TFA did not mention why she refused, so it is possible that the system in place would not be timely enough or would dilute her message, so I will give her the benefit of the doubt. I think that her actions do not merit suspension. Just take away her email privileges.
Re:I read her entire email (Score:5, Insightful)
Spam is unsolicited bulk email, regardless of whether or not it is well written, relevant, or reasonable.
Then the student can counter-sue if the University ever her sent her spam over an upcoming basketball game, art exhibit, Last Lecture speech, etc.
Re:I read her entire email (Score:5, Informative)
I work in a higher education institution and I can confirm that spam in universities is every bit as bad as commercial spam. I have missed "critical" correspondence amid the deluge.
Sports games, concerts, seminars, grant funding, research opportunities, exhibitions, astronomical events, workshops, training programs, lectures, presentations, groups, religious services, bereavements, marriage announcements, faculty announcements, announcements for faculty positions, calls, recalls, talks, reminders, forwards, art exhibits, cancellations, car lights, missing animals, missing people, missing USB keys, HR notices and every manner of newsletter, weekly, monthly or per semester ... do battle for my inbox day after day. And this is all before people start using the internal email to buy, sell, solicit, advertise, as a soapbox on just about any conceivable issue (this is a university), or indeed as an instant messaging replacement for people who couldn't be bothered to type in several names and instead hit "reply all", or the sysadmin send us emails to tell us that the email system and/or internet is/was down... again.
Not a single part of this post is an exaggeration or fabrication. I've gotten all this and more. I imagine it's the same everywhere else.
Re:I read her entire email (Score:5, Informative)
How could the sysadmin not have seen this:
http://lct.msu.edu/guidelines-policies/bulkemail.html
"
# Permitted uses for broad cross-University mailing. Bulk e-mailing may be used only by University offices to send communications necessary to the normal course of business and which typically require some official action be taken individually by recipients. Such permitted uses include:
* Dissemination of urgent information of health and safety concern for students and University employees.
* Communication of information regarding changes of University policies or procedures, or actions that affect employment or compensation status, or status as a student.
* Regular communications (for example, to University employees) that are required by law, regulation or University policy for which bulk e-mail may largely replace paper transmittal.
"
So, according to their own policy, mass emailing of "...information regarding changes of University policies or procedures, or actions that affect employment or compensation status, or status as a student..." falls within acceptable use. That is assuming that this change to the university schedule is a "change in policy" or "affects employment". I don't see how that wouldn't be the case.
Re:I read her entire email (Score:5, Insightful)
I thought that too, at first, but then I noticed in TFA that her e-mail was not informative but rather dissension...
On Sept. 15, Kara Spencer, a senior and the associated students director at MSU, sent a letter to 391 university professors speaking out against a proposal from the Provost to shorten the fall semester by two days and to shorten Fall Welcome, reducing the amount of time new students would have to adjust to college living.
Probably that falls under "personal purposes" or "political statements or purposes", both of which purposes are explicitly prohibited in the document from which you quoted.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:I read her entire email (Score:5, Insightful)
It sounds like the professors are more butthurt she got their email addresses than interested in responding to the concern she expressed.
As a professor, I doubt it: most of us couldn't care less if we get one more unsolicited email from a student.
More likely she is the victim of some jobsworth in an administrative office who was on the mailing list and has nothing more important to do.
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Namely, one Mr Randall Hall, Information Technology Director. Who was it who said the more words in your job title, the more useless/power hungry you were?
Re:I read her entire email (Score:5, Funny)
It was well written, not off topic, and expressed a reasonable concern
Well then it probably should never be posted to slashdot.
I have mixed feelings (Score:2)
I read it and I have mixed feelings because of the possible precedent as much as anything. If she'd sent it to 10,000 professors instead of 391, would it be any different? What if she started sending emails about every other matter that concerned her? Especially if the university and people in it have a culture of not bulk-emailing staff, I might be quite annoyed by this
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That wasn't a "broad cross-University mailing" (i.e. addressed to "all users"). It was a targeted mailing, albeit a targeted mailing with nearly 400 recipients...
Personally (Score:2, Funny)
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Re:Personally (Score:5, Funny)
That's funny. I once tracked poop (on purpose) onto my English professor(')s carpet for giving me a 64 (the lowest possible D before an F) because he didn't agree with my position on a paper (which was on a moral issue). He gave me a D because he knew I had put hard work into the document(,) but couldn't agree with my position.
Frankly, I'd give you a D for that paragraph alone.
Re:Personally (Score:4, Informative)
The comma shouldn't be there.
This is good news... (Score:5, Funny)
Because it means that we'll finally have an exact legal threshold in terms of number of recipients for an email to be considered spam, regardless of the contents or intent of the email. Zero tolerance policies are a really good idea, because they allow us to deal with violations--now matter how minor--in a uniform manner, and don't permit bureaucrats to allow things like reasonableness or circumstances to muddy the issue.
Re:This is good news... well not really (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
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School policy explicitly prohibited using mass mailers for personal or political reasons.
The ONLY one? (Score:2)
"I am the only student to ever be charged or brought to the judiciary and charged with violating the university's Network Acceptable Use Policy, and that raises questions for me. I can't imagine that this is the test case for the university given the vast amount of file sharing and hacking that goes on around campus," Spencer said.
Is she really the _only_ one to be charged? Does she have documented proof of this? I guarantee someone has gotten in trouble in the past or else they have upstanding students or piss poor admins.
Is it just me (Score:4, Insightful)
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"Selected faculty members"? (Score:5, Interesting)
She sent what amounted to a form letter to 391 professors. I certainly don't consider this spam. Given the lazy, unthoughtful way she went about this, I also don't consider this anything more than a waste of everbody's time. Sending what amounts to a bulk form letter via email isn't going to influence anyone.
Beyond that, I think it's more problematic that she apparently refuses to comply with university policies once notified about them. Her position basically is "I intend to continue sending out poorly thought out, ineffectual bulk messages to all faculty whenever I see fit." In that context, maybe it does become spam...
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Student electees are non-office and have no rights (Score:2)
The MSU Bulk E-Mail policy allows for emailing "information regarding changes of University policies or procedures" but the privilege of exercising these speech rights is reserved to "only by University offices". Student governments are typically not an official university office and have no rights under any of the policies which e
It was a fine letter. (Score:2)
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Her position basically is "I intend to continue sending out poorly thought out, ineffectual bulk messages to all faculty whenever I see fit." In that context, maybe it does become spam...
That's one interpretation. But I wonder where you got it from? All we have is the other side's statement that:
"the student was informed of the proper procedures to follow and flatly refused to obtain proper permissions stating that she would continue to send emails out and demanded that I file charges against her."
No explanation as to why she needs "proper permission" to send a message to the faculty at her school. No explanation as to exactly what the "proper permission" entails nor how long it takes to
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Or, you know, not telling a mail administrator off when he shows you the proper mailing list to dump on.
Nothing wrong with her message (Score:2)
Some prof was concerned how a student got her WORK e-mail address??? Geez at the universities I went to (2 of them) a professors email was their first initial, last name and the school address after the @ symbol. You could also go to each departments website and get a picture, email, phone and office address for the professor.
This is silly, and th
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ah, academic politics (Score:2)
She's going to be fine. The administrator who let that e-mail go through the list-serv is losing his job though.
Always comes down to definitions (Score:3, Insightful)
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This does not fall under spam, imho, because the student sent an e-mail to professors on their school work e-mail (which allows students to send to professors) for the purpose of asking a professor for their input o
At least she didn't TELL EVERYONE HI (Score:5, Interesting)
When I was in college, a little-known feature of the mainframe system allowed anyone with an MVS account (every CS major and anyone who took a CS class) to send a bulk instant message to everyone on campus.
Astonishingly, this had the effect of shutting down all administrative offices, from payroll to the registrar to the financial aid office. This was because all the line printers had accounts too, and would choke on an improperly formatted input. Anyone with an account could do this. Of course it would be tied to your name, so in theory you'd want to use someone else's account.
About every couple years a student would learn about the feature and innocently TELL EVERYONE HI without realizing that they were about to enter a dimension consisting entirely of pain. I do not think that even this transgression would result in a suspension---the chair might have you murdered, but no suspension.
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Actually I think it'd be a whole lot funnier to figure out what the "properly formatted input" was and make all the printers on the whole campus print a "hello world" sheet.
Re:At least she didn't TELL EVERYONE HI (Score:4, Funny)
Not SPAM, but what's this about free speech? (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't understand the free speech thing. No, it's not SPAM. Whether or not she actually abused the policy is up for someone else to decide, not me. But what is all this talk about free speech? Since when does freedom of speech mean you can break a the rules you agreed (I assume you have to agree to abide by them in order to be accepted into the school) to follow?
If she actually broke the policy, then the agreed-to consequences for it should happen. If she didn't, the school is being stupid, and the SCHOOL should face consequences. But this doesn't have to do with "freedom of speech."
Re: (Score:2)
Thank you, I understand that it is a state school, and I understand there is a Constitution. And I understand that, in fact, the first 10 amendments to that Constitution are generally referred to as the "Bill of Rights."
I also understand that a government agency can't have policies contrary to them.
But public schools can have policies that aren't contrary to them. Freedom of speech does not mean you are allowed to use any technology you want to say anything you want. Those policies appear to have been
First we need a good definition of spam. (Score:5, Interesting)
Is spam any unsolicited commercial email sent out to 20 or more recipients? If so, this is not spam.
Is spam any unsolicited advertorial email sent out to more than 1 person? If so, this is not spam.
Is spam any unsolicited email sent to more than 1 person? If so, this is spam.
The problem here is we need a legal definition of spam to define what it is. Then once the public knows what spam is, we can prosecute those who send it illegally, and stop wasting our damn time arguing what it is. Personally, I like the definition of any unsolicited email sent to more than 20 people...regardless of the content.
Re:First we need a good definition of spam. (Score:4, Funny)
I like your idea, and I have forwarded it to 20 of my closest friends with instructions that they do the same.
Not really a free speech issue, but... (Score:2, Interesting)
Bleah (Score:2)
I was on her side until I saw the email read like political form letter. Yeesh! People really write like that? I thought those were all computer generated or composed by captive serial killers deep in secret prison sub-basements.
The university really has no choice, in my opinion, but to hang her.
Acceptable Use Policy (Score:2, Informative)
http://lct.msu.edu/guidelines-policies/bulkemail.html [msu.edu]
It's not like it's hard to find or follow.
More on the MSU 'spammer' (Score:3, Interesting)
spamming the spammers (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)