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Another Millionaire Spammer Story

Posted by michael on Fri Nov 22, 2002 11:58 AM
from the MMF dept.
Spam
An anonymous reader writes "Here's another story about a millionaire spammer who thinks he is doing nothing wrong and can't wait to get his hands on the next generation of spamming software." See also the last installment.
+ -
story
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  • Great! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22 2002, @12:01PM (#4732626)
    This is a great way to increase spam by showing all these success stories! Keep up the great work! :)

    • Re:Great! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Mindragon (627249) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:34PM (#4732931) Journal
      As usual, there aren't any articles about updating SMTP standards that would eliminate spam. Rather, there are articles or comments going pro or con about the spam issue. If a number of people were to work together cooperatively and collaboratively to develop a secure mail transport protocol that would eliminate spam, we could see the demise of spam three years from today. Instead, we spend our time on petty bickering and foolish banter.

      • Re:Great! (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Arcturax (454188) on Friday November 22 2002, @01:10PM (#4733287)
        Thank goodness, someone else out there with some sense. I've been wondering this since back in the mid 90's when Spam first reared its ugly head. Why don't we move to secure the system and no longer allow spoofing of email?

        Another thing that could be done is to figure out where this guy's 190 email servers are and publish a block list for ISP's to simply refuse any data from the ISP's who are letting this man do what he is doing.

        If ISP's start cutting off all data from known spam sources, that will help cut back on the problem greatly.

  • spam shark (Score:5, Funny)

    by ciscoeng (411359) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:05PM (#4732655)
    FTC> *knocking*

    Spammer> "Who is it?"

    FTC> "Flowers"

    Spammer> "What?"

    FTC> "Pizza delivery"

    Spammer> "Oh. Ok."

    Spammer> "Hey, you're that spam shark, aren't you?

  • ethical?? (Score:5, Funny)

    by chef_raekwon (411401) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:07PM (#4732664) Homepage
    "I don't do any porn or sexual messages," he said, citing a..

    can't say I've ever heard of an "ethical" spammer.....

    sounds like an oxymoron to me...

  • More of the same... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Cap'n Canuck (622106) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:07PM (#4732665)
    Yet Another Spammer Story, as if we haven't heard enough.

    I recently saw the "Bart gets a job as a bartender for the Mob" episode. The episode ended with
    Bart: "I realize now that crime doesn't pay"
    Fat Tony: "Yeah, I guess you're right"
    At which point Fat Tony and his entourage leave in several strech limos.

    The only point of posting stories like these seems to be:
    1) enraging /. readers to a frenzy
    2) proving that crime DOES pay.

    Why bother?

    • Re:More of the same... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by SecurityGuy (217807) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:28PM (#4732857)
      Why bother?


      Truth, maybe? I don't like it, but it seems useful to know the old line "Spamming doesn't work" isn't true. It provides motivation to find a true solution to the problem. Spamming *does* pay, but as a phenominal pain in the tail, we should look for ways to make it uneconomical.

  • Right... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by skirch (126930) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:08PM (#4732682) Homepage
    "I'll never quit," said the 57-year-old master of spam. "I like what I do. This is the greatest business in the world."

    I like what I do, even though I have to hide from everyone, use unlisted numbers, and pretend like it's not bothering anyone. It's truly the greatest business in the world. And the dog feces that keep coming in the mail don't bother me that much, either.

  • Ok, Step # 1 (Score:5, Funny)

    by 3.5 stripes (578410) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:09PM (#4732685)
    Find that T1 line.

    Step #2 hire some blackhats to turn the entire center into a bunch of machines with blank disks.

    Step #3 Repeat as necessary

    I've got $20 in my hand that I'd give to that effort in a second.

    • Re:Ok, Step # 1 (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22 2002, @12:12PM (#4732708)
      One of the more noble reasons why someone on this site is typing with only one hand... :-)

  • It will continue as long as it works... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by bwalling (195998) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:09PM (#4732689) Homepage
    As much as everyone complains about spam, it's not going anywhere. The reason? It works. It's the same problem that all of the new invasive advertising (ads superimposed on football fields during games, etc) has.

    As much as everyone complains about it, there are sufficient people who respond to the advertising and buy the products. As long as that happens, spam will continue.

  • Good to know he has money... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by xchino (591175) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:10PM (#4732694)
    I hope the bastard slips up and get his ass sued off. Or better yet his customers get sued. This guy is a millionaire because spam works for companies who sell this crap and pay him to spam us with it. I imagine I'd have a hard time selling pills to enlarge your penis or free xxx pornsite passwords door to door. In fact I'd probably be arrested, especially after I tried to make the sale to a minor who answered the door. I don't see how e-mail should be any different.

  • Ha! The Falun Gong thing worked! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Cutriss (262920) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:14PM (#4732716) Homepage
    I remember people mentioning this a few /. articles back when we were talking about an effective way to stop spammers and Bernard Shifman...by reporting them to the Chinese government.

    Earlier this month, said Ralsky, somebody told the Chinese government that a Web company from which he leases e-mail servers in Beijing was sending messages critical of Chinese policy.

    Police promptly raided the business and confiscated Ralsky's servers. Although they were returned a few days later, Ralsky now tries to cover his tracks better, so opponents won't know what companies and servers he's using.

    Linford said he heard of the raid. "It wasn't us that caused it," he said. "But there are a lot of anti-spam activists, and apparently some of them on their own started organizing a campaign to get the Chinese government to think that Ralsky was supporting" the Falun Gong, an outlawed spiritual group the Chinese government considers subversive. "We didn't endorse that, but it shows you how deep the anti-Ralsky feelings are."

    If that worked, maybe we can find someone with a much *longer* reach to take him down.

    We need to start reporting him as a terrorist to the FBI. We know how pushy they can be. :) As was mentioned in the Buckeye case from last night, they'll steal^H^H^H^H^Hconfiscate all his equipment during the "investigation"...

    • Re:Ha! The Falun Gong thing worked! (Score:5, Funny)

      by Tackhead (54550) on Friday November 22 2002, @01:12PM (#4733318)
      > > [Chinese] Police promptly raided the business and confiscated Ralsky's servers. Although they were returned a few days later, Ralsky now tries to cover his tracks better, so opponents won't know what companies and servers he's using.
      >
      >If that worked, maybe we can find someone with a much *longer* reach to take him down.
      >
      >We need to start reporting him as a terrorist to the FBI. We know how pushy they can be. :)

      Yeah. I'm kinda amazed that it worked, but I suppose with the number of people doing it, someone would get lucky. Alas, unlike American cops, when the Chinese cops raid a place and steal its equipment, they give it back. Who'dathunk that?

      Yo, Charlie Chan, that's not how you're supposed to play the game! When you raid a shop for its computers, you're supposed to keep the damn computers! Duh!

      (Obviously they haven't been taking their lessons from the FBI seriously, or the Chinese Communist dictatorship, because it has no concept of private property, has yet to invent asset forfeiture laws yet :-)

      A Modest Proposal, then:

      For every blocked spam delivery attempt, bounce every Ralsky spam with:

      "550 - Allahu Akbar! - Islamohash detected - responding with segment #12345 - FJAKC RLXCJ VOHSA COPQM JJWOZ"

      Every day, plus or minus a few hours, randomly regenerate the pro-Arab slogan. (The idea is that it's supposed to look like an SMTP server is responding to the hashbusters *in* Ralsky's spam, and responding with a segment of a coded message.)

      Then, for every 550 message, increment the message segment number, and randomly generate blocks of random characters.

      Sit back and wait. If Fedz show up on your doorstep, supply with donuts (the good kind, damnit!) and show 'em the script that generates 'em randomly. And give 'em a laptop for their troubles.

      If Fedz show up on Ralsky's doorstep, write letter to Congressman requesting that the US government authorize the use of any and all means of torture on terror suspects. Laugh maniacally as spam problem goes away. And I mean far away.

      As for what to do with Ralsky once he's been disappeared for supporting terrorism, I have another Modest Proposal:

      1) Lock Ralsky in cell with a laptop and a 2400-baud modem.
      2) He can eat his meals and quaff his drinks if and only if he replies with "Yes, I'd like to eat today!" to an email written by someone (a different person each day) working in the prison kitchen.
      3) Post his email address to USENET in alt.make.money.fast.
      4) If he objects that he can't find the chow-time email with the Subject: line of "Hi!" or "Let's do lunch!" message amidst the spam... well, it's just e-mail, can't he Just Hit Delete?
      5) Install a webcam in the cell and sell subscriptions to live streaming webcasts of Ralsky writhing in agony as convulsions from hunger and thirst wrack his body.
      6) ...
      (and I hope "..." lasts for weeks, whether there are any subscribers to the webcasts or not)
      7) Profit!

      And just to show you I'm not a total softie when it comes to dealing with spammers, then go all Vlad-the-Impaler on him in front of Verio headquarters, as an example to the others.

  • Is he *trying* to get arrested again? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by drew_kime (303965) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:14PM (#4732717) Homepage Journal
    Ralsky, meanwhile, is looking at new technology. Recently he's been talking to two computer programmers in Romania who have developed what could be called stealth spam.


    It is intricate computer software, said Ralsky, that can detect computers that are online and then be programmed to flash them a pop-up ad, much like the kind that display whenever a particular Web site is opened.

    "This is even better," he said. "You don't have to be on a Web site at all. You can just have your computer on, connected to the Internet, reading e-mail or just idling and, bam, this program detects your presence and up pops the message on your screen, past firewalls, past anti-spam programs, past anything.

    "Isn't technology great?"

    First of all no, this is not great. Second, as soon as he talks about intentionally bypassing a firewall, I start thinking that that sounds suspiciously like "circumventing an access control" which, I believe, is no longer legal.

  • Here's his email address and more info (Score:5, Informative)

    by iamwoodyjones (562550) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:15PM (#4732723) Journal
    Here's more information on this scum bag:
    scum bag info [spamhaus.org]
    I'm still looking for the physical adress of his *new* home/data center. If anyone finds it as well as his phone number, or his email *he* uses. Post it!

  • It boils down to (Score:5, Insightful)

    by gTsiros (205624) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:15PM (#4732727)
    Anyone can be rich, no matter how big an asshole he is.

    But this guy is so big an asshole that the goatse.cx guy must be feeling embarASSed.

    The poster should be modded -1:troll for posting such goatse-cx like stories to /. !!!

  • Stop me if you've heard this one... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Bonker (243350) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:15PM (#4732728)
    A spammer was hit by a bus. He, like all spammers, descended into hell, where he was met by a large, read minataur creature with huge, dripping horns.

    "Hi!" the spammer greeted him. "There must have been some mistake. I wasn't supposed to go here. I was expecting to meet Saint Peter and pass through the pearly gates."

    "TREMBLE, MORTAL SINNER, BEFORE THE UNHOLY TERROR THAT IS BEELZEBUB, LORD OF THE SEVENTH CIRCLE OF HELL!" the demon replied. "ABANDON ALL HOPE AS YOU BEGIN TO REAP WHAT YOU HAVE SOWN!"

    "Can't I go to heaven?" the spammer asked, quite sure that he had not really done anything worthy of eternal damnation.

    "Sure," the demon replied in conversational tones. "But first you have to work off all the spam you sent. Millions and millions of emails, right?"

    The spammer nodded, happy that he wasn't going to be confined to darkness and torment for all time. "What do I have to do?"

    "These," the demon said, pointing to a endless field of paper stacked yards tall, "are printouts off all the spam you've ever sent. You must dispose of it all before you can leave this place."

    "How do I dispose of it?" the spammer asked, somehwhat apprehensive about his task.

    "I'll show you," the dmeon replied. "Bend over and pull your pants down..."

  • Spammer's address (Score:5, Funny)

    by phritz (623753) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:17PM (#4732739)
    I hope everyone noticed that, although the author promised not to give out the spammer's address, he conveniently told us exactly how to find it.

    But, you know, it sure would be a shame if some /.er in the Oakland area were to go get that address. . . and a real shame if s/he decided to post that address here. I mean, what good could that possibly serve?

  • You get the feeling... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Violet Null (452694) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:18PM (#4732744)
    That the reporter doesn't really like spammers either, don't you? Consider this quote:

    Today, Ralsky says he is trying to keep a lower profile, operating through cell phones and unlisted numbers. Ralsky agreed to this interview and the tour of his operation only if I promised not to print the address of his new home, which I found in Oakland County real estate records.

    Or, in other words, "I promised not to reveal the address, but if you want to look it up, here's how to do so..."

  • What a crook (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dh003i (203189) <heinrich@rochesS ... .com minus berry> on Friday November 22 2002, @12:19PM (#4732752) Homepage Journal
    This guy's obviously a crook. Kicked out of his previous profession for illegal behaviour. Sorry, what he does is not legal -- its stealing. He steals MY bandwidth, which I paid good money for. I have to download his crap mail wasting MY TIME and MY BANDWIDTH. But the solution to this is simple: make a comprehensive e-mail address list of all people you know, and have your e-mail program delete (or download only the header of) anything which isn't from someone you know.

    As for pop-up ads and other crap, you can prevent that by a host file. I currently have images.slashdot.org on my hostfile, along with the locations of other sites that slashdot banners come from. I see no ads on Yahoo, CNET, DOWNLOAD.com, WSJ.com, MSN.com, etc. Other things to do are to disable playing sounds or animations, and to remove Flash from you're computer. As a last resort, you can just disable images altogether.

    The technology that this crook described which would flash pop-ups to people connected to the internet is also illegal -- it steals MY resources (my RAM, my CPU time, my GPU power, etc). The way to stop that is to refuse non-requested pop-ups or other such information, to close off ports, and to install a firewall.

  • Expensive House != Net Worth (Score:5, Insightful)

    by asv108 (141455) <alex@@@phataudio...org> on Friday November 22 2002, @12:22PM (#4732779) Homepage Journal
    Just because someone has an expensive house or drives a nice car, doesn't mean they have a net worth of a million dollars. One can have very little in the way of assets but can still get mortgages and auto loans. Generally, people who emphasize how much their possessions cost, are the type of people who bought everything on credit. Considering this guy has filed for personal bankruptcy before, he is probably highly leveraged.

    Spam is obviously a profitable activity and the writer of the article is trying to emphasize the "millionaire" aspect, but I doubt this guy is a true millionaire.

    • Re:Expensive House != Net Worth (Score:5, Funny)

      by meringuoid (568297) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:26PM (#4732829)
      Just because someone has an expensive house or drives a nice car, doesn't mean they have a net worth of a million dollars. One can have very little in the way of assets but can still get mortgages and auto loans.

      Yes, Ralsky's been bankrupt and has a terrible credit rating. But he refinanced and got a good deal on a mortgage loan, and now he makes $$$ in a profitable home business.

  • Directed attacks on spammers idea (Score:5, Interesting)

    by SnoooBob2k (620644) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:22PM (#4732787)

    Has anyone ever considered organizing a directed attack on known spammers? It seems to me that if I have to spend time deleting penis enlargement spam emails and forwarding them onto ucef@ftc.gov, I am losing productivity which in turn costs money.

    Considering that that govt in the US is condsidering allowing recording companies to infect P2P networks legally, why shouldn't the same rights be given to a coalition of ordinary people to do directed attacks on spammers and their ISPs who little about the problem?

  • So why isn't this fellow being ostracized? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Inoshiro (71693) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:24PM (#4732803) Homepage
    There's always a bit of a lag as law catches up to society. Sure, some people are duped by email, but some people would also like to burn black people on giant crosses for the crime of being born with a certain skin colour.

    We have laws against the burning of people based on skin colour, why aren't there laws stopping spammers yet? Just because you can do something, even to the point of making money at it, it does not mean that it is ethical or moral to do!

  • I've decided SPAM isn't that bad... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by airrage (514164) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:26PM (#4732832) Homepage Journal
    I'm starting to think real hard about Spam. Inspired, much to my chagrin, by the recent articles concerning AOLs CD spamming campaign. I firmly believe when we wipe ourselves from this rock, and our ruined civilization is discovered, that alien archeologists will assume that an AOL CD is a religious artifact. But I keep thinking about this article, trying to determine why am I really angry. Partly, I'm upset because this person is making alot of money while I'm at work. Partly it's jealousy. I'm conflicted, that hell yes, if you can make 200K+ a year spamming then count me in; and yet, I've been on the net for a while now, before it got really popular, and I also have some of that old code of ethics with me.

    But at least I have to hand it to this person, at least he's got some morals, or so he says. And at least Spam is environmentally friendly -- it doesn't affect the groundwater or the air I breathe.

    And that's a big point. It reminds me that yes, it's upsetting, but at least it's not a lingering mess, environmentally. It's not a SuperFund site.

    I'm reminded of Air-Mail delivery in this country. Airplanes were paid by the pound for mail, so more often than not, they would stuff the US mail bags with rocks to make more money. That's the essence of the point: we realize that there is money to be made in bulk. Pay by the pound, all-you-can-eat, spam-o-rama, and hope that just one sucker is out there.

    The other point this article brings to light for me is the fact that, for the most part, we humans are actually brighter than I thought. The spam rate is horrendous. Something like 2 in a big-freaking-number. So Spam is casting a very wide net to catch a few sardines. I think that is quite a boost to our combined egos. We aren't as dumb as we behave in traffic.

    I know many will make the point that it's clogging routers, servers, and generally a waste of time, but it's a grey area whether that's hard or soft dollars. What's the cost of one more email?

    But we can change this. Why can't email be like instant messaging where only those on my buddy list can email me. The Spammer would have to guess my email address and some complicated guid to send me email.

    So for me, at least until they change the SMTP/POP RFC to allow for end-user authentication, I'm okay with spam ... and frankly that scares me.

  • spammers and drug cartels... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by bje2 (533276) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:33PM (#4732914)
    "There are probably about 150 major spammers who are responsible for 90 percent of all the spam everyone gets"

    does this remind anyone else of the columbian drug cartels?...sure drugs are everywhere, but a small number of columbian drug cartels are responsible for a large portion of the world's drug traffic...another similarity, we're fighting losing battles against spammers and drugs...we're not making up any ground...

    seriously though, why can't some senator or congressman introduce a tough anti-spam bill...does spammers have a strong political lobby like the NRA or big Tobbacco does?...then again, i guess the result would be the same as in this article, spammers would just move more of their actual operations overseas...oh well...

  • You know... (Score:5, Funny)

    by segfault7375 (135849) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:41PM (#4732992)

    Instead of Spam Assissin, maybe what we need is Spammer Assissin :)

  • Here's a picture of Ralsky (Score:5, Informative)

    by Animats (122034) on Friday November 22 2002, @01:08PM (#4733261) Homepage
    Here's a picture [cbsnews.com], from a story about him settling a lawsuit with Verizon last month.

  • you can get him HERE!!!!!!!! (Score:5, Informative)

    by paradesign (561561) on Friday November 22 2002, @01:10PM (#4733280) Homepage
    here [rxpoint.com] its his business, err, "real" business.

  • I've lost it. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Pollux (102520) <splien@gauss.c o r d.edu> on Friday November 22 2002, @01:13PM (#4733323) Journal
    Ralsky, meanwhile, is looking at new technology. Recently he's been talking to two computer programmers in Romania who have developed what could be called stealth spam.

    It is intricate computer software, said Ralsky, that can detect computers that are online and then be programmed to flash them a pop-up ad, much like the kind that display whenever a particular Web site is opened.

    "This is even better," he said. "You don't have to be on a Web site at all. You can just have your computer on, connected to the Internet, reading e-mail or just idling and, bam, this program detects your presence and up pops the message on your screen, past firewalls, past anti-spam programs, past anything.

    "Isn't technology great?"

    Okay. I swear, if I was interviewing this guy when he said that, he would have gotten punched in the face. I am one step away from pulling out my 357 and blowing the computer screen to pieces after reading that. For anyone who thinks that this guy should still be allowed to stay in business for complete invasion of someone elses privacy just so that he can have a $750,000 house and live a life of luxury needs to stop huffin' gasoline and prevent our private lives from being invaded further.

    Let me lay down the facts: Spamers steal from other businesses in order to deliver messages cheap. I've said this argument before, and I'll say it again. If you pay the Post Office to deliver a package, between the time it is given to the Post Office and the time it is delivered, it is in the possession of the Post Office 100%. Their handling of it, their processing of it, their delivering of it, is all being paid for by the Post Office. When you pay postage to deliver mail / packages, it is because the Post Office is compensated for all the time it takes to deliver the package.

    Spammers do not do this. They do not pay for the bandwidth that they use up. They do not pay for the storage space on servers that their spam waits on. They do not pay for delivery of the messages beyond what leaves their servers. They STEAL. This guy, and every other single person who thinks that they can make a mint off invading the privacy of one's own home should be thrown in jail.

    This is an outright exploitation of what the internet was set up to be. Stoic advertisements are one thing, because the webpage that a web surfer views is there for free, so the owner of the website is trying to compensate himself for the services he offers. But Spam, as well as this hell-born Son-of-Satan spinoff that our featured spammer friend concocted, is an outright solicitation. Send it all back from which it came, and jail these people who think that this level of exploitation is legal.

    • Re:All spammers (Score:5, Insightful)

      by sketerpot (454020) <sketerpot@nOSpam.gmail.com> on Friday November 22 2002, @12:06PM (#4732659)
      They are disruptive in many of the same ways. They take advantage of other people's resources, and naive users are the ones who keep both going.

      They cause people to distrust each other. I am very cautious about giving a web site my email address for fear that it will be abused.

      They both make email less pleasant.

      Their creators all seem to be unremorseful. If only we could send viruses and trojans to them all.

    • Re:All spammers (Score:5, Funny)

      by LostCluster (625375) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:18PM (#4732747) Homepage
      Nah, spammers actually spur Internet growth.

      Think of all the legit system admins who spend hours cleaning out overloaded systems, and programmers who develop anti-spam solutions for both networks and users, and additonal bandwith that needs to be purchased so that legit traffic can move past all the spam.

      The fact is, the more spam annoys people, the more they're willing to pay us to make it go away.

    • Re:All spammers (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 22 2002, @01:04PM (#4733217)
      We know where this one lives. Let's go kill him.

      Of course, this is a joke. Surely there isn't a single person who reads Slashdot who has been so annoyed by spam that they would go so far as to kill him and burn down his house. Nope. Nobody like that. Even if that person would almost certainly be able to escape punishment if even a tiny amount of forethought were used in the attempt. After all, Virginia police couldn't even catch a homeless muslim sniper after multiple shootings; what are the odds they'll catch some geek who is actually paying attention to not leave any evidence behind?

      Of course, this really is a joke. And everyone reading it should take it as a joke. Except for that one very special person. Yes, you my friend. You know what you must do...

    • Re:I'd like to see if this is *really* possible! (Score:5, Informative)

      by EatHam (597465) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:21PM (#4732769)
      Firstly, can anyone envision what could possibly do this? Does your browser have to be trojoned to accomplish this feat? Could it be an IE-only kind of design bug?

      I can envision what would do this - there's been stories about this already. It's those popup messages that come up from Windows Messenger. Easy enough to turn off and block, but most people don't.

    • Re:I'd like to see if this is *really* possible! (Score:5, Informative)

      by pbranes (565105) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:25PM (#4732816)
      Here is the entire quote

      Ralsky, meanwhile, is looking at new technology. Recently he's been talking to two computer programmers in Romania who have developed what could be called stealth spam. It is intricate computer software, said Ralsky, that can detect computers that are online and then be programmed to flash them a pop-up ad, much like the kind that display whenever a particular Web site is opened. "This is even better," he said. "You don't have to be on a Web site at all. You can just have your computer on, connected to the Internet, reading e-mail or just idling and, bam, this program detects your presence and up pops the message on your screen, past firewalls, past anti-spam programs, past anything.

      I seriously doubt that this guy has some new revolutionary technology that will allow him to force ads to pop up no matter what we are doing. This sounds like the typical spyware that comes with kazaa and other similar programs. There is a great cure for this: Ad-Aware [lavasoftusa.com]. This could also be the IE bug that was mentioned on slashdot yesterday [slashdot.org].

      Whatever this guy is talking about, it can be easily defeated by ad-aware, using mozilla, or disabling activex in IE.

    • Re:What a moron... (Score:5, Funny)

      by iamwoodyjones (562550) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:27PM (#4732844) Journal
      I'm afraid to actually check that out. Because if that is truely his address and phone number I feel really sorry for him. For sure latter tonight he'll hear:
      "Hello, Alan, Have you heard the sad news? Steven King is dead at 54! Apparently he..."

      As well as, "First Phone Call!"

      And of course, "Hey, I've 1) Called you. 2) Uhhh... 3) PROFIT!!!! BTW, FreeBSD/Linux/etc are dying!"

      But not before, "Hey Ralsky ol buddy. I think this call just might be one of several beowulf of phone calls!"

    • Re:damn spammers (Score:5, Insightful)

      by suman28 (558822) <suman28.hotmail@com> on Friday November 22 2002, @12:44PM (#4733023)
      When people see that you can buy 8000-sq ft homes, this only encourages others to do the same. He truly is not doing any thing illegal and I think that's where the problem is. Why not write to your congressman/congresswoman and see if you can get legislation passed. That would be more helpful in the long run.

      • Re:damn spammers (Score:5, Funny)

        by saider (177166) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:40PM (#4732983)
        The first time I heard the expression was with a Brazilian friend of mine. He was schooled over there and was visiting his family here in Florida. We were heading down to the gun range to do some skeet shooting and he mentioned that he wanted to step out and "smoke a fag".

        You can imagine the confusion that caused.

    • Re:file trading okay, spam not okay (Score:5, Insightful)

      by mr.nicholas (219881) on Friday November 22 2002, @12:51PM (#4733106) Homepage
      You just don't get it, do you? (Though I might argue whether this is true or not) The reason why file-trading, etc. is accepted here and SPAM is not is because of the intrusiveness of SPAM. You CANNOT get away from it. You cannot stop it. You cannot ID where it is coming from. It's a deluge of mail that you can't prevent from hitting your box (even if you have good anti-spam software, it has to hit your box first).

      File-trading isn't intrusive. That's the difference. If P2P applications FORCED you to receive any file that anyone wanted to send you, then yes, people here would then lump it with SPAM.

      It's not a question of legality, it's a question of access control to your system.

    • For crying out loud! (Score:5, Informative)

      by Moderation abuser (184013) on Friday November 22 2002, @01:02PM (#4733200)
      There is software to stop mass mailings. It's just that there are loads of dumb schmucks out there who haven't bothered to see if anything actually exists to do the job.

      Course, it's the same dumb schmucks who get all the spam mail, which suits me just fine.

      The *real* problem is all these bloody spam stories on Slashdot. You only get spam these days because you want spam or are too dumb to do anything about it...

      http://pyzor.sourceforge.net/
      http://razor.sour ceforge.net/
      http://www.rhyolite.com/anti-spam/dc c/
      http://www.spamassassin.org/
      http://www.zanth an.com/itymbi/archives/000656.html

      etc etc etc etc.

    • It's not the spammers fault. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by BoomerSooner (308737) on Friday November 22 2002, @01:30PM (#4733517) Homepage Journal
      Same as in telemarketing. If 1 in 1000 buys from them the profit is enough to keep them going.

      The only way it will stop is when it quits working. The problem with that is people are generally stupid and trust others.

      I have no hatred with spammers, I hate the dipshits that buy their sales pitch.

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