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Circumventing CAN-SPAM

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Mon Feb 13, 2006 11:30 AM
from the brought-to-you-by-the-us-government dept.
Spam Privacy
Dekortage writes "The iMedia Connection newsletter is running a story on how some politicians are violating CAN-SPAM with impunity. Apparently so-called 'political speech' e-mails do not fit the legal definition of spam, even if they are wholly unsolicited and unwanted. In this particular case, the spammer is the attorney general of Florida, who considers himself an anti-spam crusader."
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[+] FTC Declares Can-Spam a Success 310 comments
TheSixth1 writes "ZDNet is reporting that the FTC announced in a recent report to Congress [PDF Warning] that the Can-Spam act is 'effective in providing protection for consumers.' The report boasts that the substantive provisions of the Act have mandated adoption of a number of commercial email "best practices" that many legitimate online marketers are now following. Second, the Act has provided law enforcement agencies and ISPs with an additional tool to use when bringing suit against spammers. The more than 50 cases brought to date by the FTC, the Department of Justice, state Attorneys General, and ISPs demonstrate CAN-SPAM's enforcement efficacy."
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  • Send it back to him ... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by tomhudson (43916) <hudson@nOspAM.videotron.ca> on Monday February 13 2006, @11:33AM (#14707132) Homepage Journal
    a hundred times ... and also by fax ... burn out his fax machine and keep him from getting any legit faxes.

    He'll get the message.

    • and also by fax ... burn out his fax machine and keep him from getting any legit faxes.

      Keep in mind who you're dealing with. This would very likely land you in some pretty hot water, seeing as how unsolicited faxes are illegal, and don't carry an exemption for political speech.

      Not to mention that you would very likely get nailed for spamming for sending the emails back. Don't forget, the rules apply to you, not those in power.

      • Re:Send it back to him ... (Score:4, Insightful)

        by TheRaven64 (641858) on Monday February 13 2006, @11:43AM (#14707267) Homepage Journal
        I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. That said, most of these spam-laws have exemptions for existing 'prior business relationships' and I think it could be argued that, by emailing you, he has formed such a relationship. If you sent him a fax request, one letter per page, requesting that he terminate this relationship, then you could (presuming sufficiently deep pockets) get away with it. Of course, you are safe until after the election anyway - he's not going to want to all of the bad publicity he would get from 'suing a constituent who asked him to stop spamming them' (as the newspapers would be sure to spin it) in the run up to the gubernatorial elections.
      • Political comunications are exempt - remember? So sending him back his political communication is exempt from the law. As for the "burn out the fax" by everyone faxing back a hard copy - its been done quite successfully by other lobby groups, and you want to be SURE he gets the message. Send back a negative =- uses up a LOT more toner.

        r do like one of my friends did - he sent it back via one of those manual-feed faxes, and as the top came out of the machine, he taped it to the bottom of the page, so it be

      • I think this is a very insightful post - especially the part about "Don't forget, the rules apply to you, not those in power." It's the truth and its a shame.
    • No need to go that far. Just don't vote for him. If it becomes a trend, other politicians will notice that those techniques backfire and stop using them. ...Ok, that's not likely, but it would stop him from spamming, most likely. And burning out his fax machine is likely to cause him to buy another. Paid for by your taxes.

      • And burning out his fax machine is likely to cause him to buy another. Paid for by your taxes.
        He has a certain budget for his office operations. If he has to start dipping into his "discretionary funds" instead, that's not so fun - those "discretionary funds" are one of the perks of the job. Spending it on actual expenses, instead of self-indulgence, would be a bummer.
    • No, make a lexical generator, that generates random political statements
      about SPAM, and mail those to him.....

  • how can this be a surprise? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by assantisz (881107) on Monday February 13 2006, @11:36AM (#14707169)
    You can sign up your phone number for the nationwide don't-call list and politicians are still allowed to call you. Just the other night some dude from the democratic party disturbed my dinner. Are you surprised that e-mail is not treated any different?
    • You can sign up your phone number for the nationwide don't-call list and politicians are still allowed to call you. Just the other night some dude from the democratic party disturbed my dinner. Are you surprised that e-mail is not treated any different?
      The most "remarkable" part of it is that those calls only started AFTER signing up on the do-not-call list. Expecting politicians to regulate themselves is like... expecting a fox to faithfully gard a hen house.
    • And yet people still keep voting for democrats. And people who receive these phone calls from the republican fundraisers keep voting for republicans. If you vote for an incumbent you deserve what you get. ANY incumbent.
      • And yet people still keep voting for democrats. And people who receive these phone calls from the republican fundraisers keep voting for republicans. If you vote for an incumbent you deserve what you get. ANY incumbent.

        Crist is a Republican, not a Democrat. This is likely to be a bipartisan issue though.

        Well this is the point, you can vote spammy politicians out of office, the situation is self-limiting. Commercial spammers do not face the same penalties.

        CAN-SPAM was written very tightly to avoid unin

    • This is so ridiculously not news. All such legislation has loopholes that protects politicans and their lobbying interests. For example, it's not illegal for AARP to ignore the "do not call list," and as such, the only annoying telemarketing I get is from sham "clothing donation" groups (where the telemarketing firms take 50% or so of the "donation"). Anybody bitching or even insinuating that politicians are somehow "circumventing" CAN-SPAM is an idiot. Such use was pre-ordained in the legislation.

  • SPAM is SPAM ... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by xdesk (550151) on Monday February 13 2006, @11:38AM (#14707187)
    ... and the fact that american politicians have created a loophole just for them is almost normal from that sad scene ...
    • > ... and the fact that american politicians have created a loophole just for them is almost normal from that sad scene ...

      I find your presence of faith disturbing.
      What's this "almost" of which you speak?

  • Faux-Spam (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Foxman (101838) on Monday February 13 2006, @11:39AM (#14707200) Homepage
    Is it spam or not?

    Spam is often referred to as UCE "Unsolicited Commercial Email", which his emails were not. We tend to apply a broad label to spam. Often "Any email I don't want.", which may not be fair in all cases. In any case the law seems fairly clear that he was not technically breaking it.

    However, as someone who says they are a proponent of anti-spam, engaging in "spam like" behavior can only undercut their position.
    • Spam is also often called UBE (unsolicited bulk email). If it's part of a mass-mailing, and you didn't opt-in, then it's spam. If someone sends you an email that you didn't want, then it's an irritation, but it's not spam. If they send that same email to a load of other people, then it is.

    • Spam is often referred to as UCE "Unsolicited Commercial Email", which his emails were not.

      Well, from what the people interviewed say it certainly sounds like the emails were unsolicited. I guess they weren't "commercial" though. (Actually I'm pretty sure most people use the term "Unsolicited bulk email). This stuff easily fits that definition, so I think by most peoples definition, this is spam. It may be all nice and legal, but that doesn't excuse this guy from being an asshole.
    • You seem to feel that politics is not a form of commerce...?

      Justin.

    • Spam is often referred to as UCE "Unsolicited Commercial Email", which his emails were not.

      Yes, some people call it that.

      But it is important to remember the origin of the term "spam" in this context. It refers to posting/sending the same (or almost the same) thing over and over and over ...

      So, it is possible to "spam" a USENET discussion board with non-commercial postings.

      So his emails are "spam" ... but may not meet the criteria for that specific sub-category of spam known as "UCE".

      All UCE is spam ...
      Not

    • Spam as UCE is a recent invention. Before the term spam was used for email, it was used for Usenet postings. And before that, for various online games (for behavior that today might be called flooding).

      Spam is basically "the same many times" as in the Python scetch.

      The "commercial email" only became part of the description because most spam is both commercial an email. So newbies will naturally believe that is part of the definition.
  • then any of the other spammers that ignore the can-spam act???? I get more spam now then i ever did!
  • Do this outside. Get a pane of fiberglass and belt-fed sanding machine. Turn the fiberglass pane into fiberglass powder. (Carefully) sprinkle the power around the home of [insert enemy's name here], being sure to reach each carpet, set of clothes, and piece of upholstered furniture.

    With any luck, he'll have to burn down the house and salt the earth it stood on to get that itching to stop.

  • CAN-WHAT? (Score:5, Informative)

    by bennomatic (691188) on Monday February 13 2006, @11:41AM (#14707242) Homepage
    I met someone not too long ago who ran a SPAM outfit, and he boasted that he was 100% CAN-SPAM compliant, because he always gave his recipients an option to be exempted from future SPAMs. Apparently, the first contact can't be considered a SPAM, according to the law.

    So guess what? This guy had hundreds of domains, officially different companies which would act as agents for his clients, so that he (the spammer) could use the same mailing list over and over and over, because it wasn't "him" that was using it; it was his clients.

    So basically, CAN-SPAM is really SWISS-CHEESE. There are so many holes in it that any idiot can figure out a way to avoid being penalized.

    Unfortunately, there are no holes in the laws protecting these guys from great bodily harm...

    • This has been pointed out repeatedly both before CAN-SPAM was enacted (and it went through) and afterwards (and it hasn't been fixed). And the people who put that law into place are STILL THERE . I have had personal, face to face conversations with two US Reps (Knollenberg R-MI and McCotter R-MI) over the issue and neither one care. Both will be reelected to their underpaid offices in DC this year. Both will probably receive tens of thousands of votes from people who claim to hate spam but are too @*

      • EVERY incumbent should be thrown out of office. This is the ONLY way to get anything useful, meaningful, honest or good accomplished: all of the elected congresscritters know that no matter what they do they'll be back in office. Three cycles of single term US Reps will solve the problem nicely and convince them that they had better start staying the course or they won't get those annual raises-that-aren't-raises.

        This sounds good, and it seems like a hopeful sign that general approval ratings of congress

    • Re:CAN-WHAT? (Score:4, Informative)

      by jfengel (409917) on Monday February 13 2006, @12:04PM (#14707574) Homepage Journal
      Unfortunately, there are no holes in the laws protecting these guys from great bodily harm...

      No, but I believe that the CAN-SPAM law does require a valid physical postal address. It would be really, really illegal if somebody were to use that information to beat the sh*t out of him.

      If he's not including that valid postal address, then he should be arrested under the law. My concern with CAN-SPAM isn't the loopholes as much as that they don't seem to be enforcing the rules. No law does any good if it isn't enforced.

      I'd really like to see him try the "But it wasn't really me, it was my multiple domain names" excuse in front of a judge.
    • How much spam can CAN-SPAM can
      If CAN-SPAM can can spam?

      Not very much, evidently.

  • What I've found (Score:4, Insightful)

    by OYAHHH (322809) * on Monday February 13 2006, @11:42AM (#14707251)
    Is,

    That if you get on the phone and call these idiots often enough to complain they sometimes get the message.

    Just tell them that you will call each time you receive that unsolicited email or phone call from them.

    Make absolutely certain that you put the poor staffer on the hotseat. Make sure they fully understand that who they represent is invading your privacy and that you will not tolerate it.

    If they try to hang up on you then simply tell them that if they don't hear you out that you are a constituent that will be walking through their front door to give them the piece of your mind in person otherwise. That usually really gets their attention.

    Being a bit obnoxious can have it's benefits.

    Don't accept crap from those boneheads, you bought and paid for them to be there, get your money's worth!

  • Not Surprised (Score:3, Funny)

    by gtzpower (928065) on Monday February 13 2006, @11:42AM (#14707253) Homepage
    Just like a politician preach that they are anti-spam, via spam.

  • Legal reform (Score:4, Informative)

    by mccalli (323026) on Monday February 13 2006, @11:43AM (#14707261) Homepage
    From the summary: "The iMedia Connection newsletter is running a story on how some politicians are violating CAN-SPAM with impunity. Apparently so-called 'political speech' e-mails do not fit the legal definition of spam, even if they are wholly unsolicited and unwanted.".

    By definition then, if political speech emails are not legally spam, then the politicians are not violating the CAN-SPAM law. The summary is contradictory.

    Should you* want politicians to conform to an anti-spam law, the solution is to lobby and vote for either the extension of CAN-SPAM to apply to political speech or alternatively for the creation of a new law. But currently, the politicians are not breaking an existing law. This is a hrader task of course, but that's the only way forwards.

    Cheers,
    Ian
    (*by 'you' I mean US voters, I'm in the UK)

    • The CanSpam law was already on somewhat shakey legal ground. In the US we have the 1st ammendment, you know, the one about free speech. Regardless of how much you might dislike it, spam is a form of speech. Usually, it is a form of commercial speech.

      The interpretation of the constitution deals with speech issues differently depending on the type of speech involved. There is very little protection for fraudulent speech, so this can be made a crime and you can be put into jail. The same goes for yelling

      • Except that anti-spam laws aren't a free-speech matter. Free speech means your right to say what you want. It does not mean your right to use my hall without my permission to say what you want, nor does it mean your right to demand that I listen to you. If you're paying for the venue/publication, or you're using public property, then talk away all you want. But I don't see you paying my ISP subscription and my e-mail inbox (which is part of that subscription) isn't public property, and the First Amendment d

  • makes sense (Score:3, Insightful)

    by WindBourne (631190) on Monday February 13 2006, @11:44AM (#14707276) Journal
    In this particular case, the spammer is the attorney general of Florida, who considers himself an anti-spam crusader."

    CAN-SPAM was never designed to prevent spam. It was designed to codify what could legally happen, provide a way for web-sites to harvest e-mail, and finally, to prevent the states from enacting new laws against these companies. For all purpose, it was a giveaway to BIG money that does spam (and inheritenly, the lobbyists). SO anybody who voted for it, supported spam, but could declare that they were fighting against it i.e. bait via name, but switch via action (think patriot act).

  • Regulation is not effective on the internet for this type of thing. We're seeing that with pr0n too. I know people under 18 who can easily get it, and no laws can easily change that, not even the one currently in the courts. Unless every porn site does "nofollow" on all their links (to stop image searches), there's nothing they can do on the internet end. And that doesn't stop torrents, etc. The only answer to pr0n is client-side control, and parental monitoring.

    Ditto Spam. The only way to block spam

  • It is not a matter of the definition of SPAM (Score:3, Interesting)

    by will_die (586523) on Monday February 13 2006, @11:50AM (#14707368) Homepage
    Both political and charity based mailing are exempt from from the CAN-SPAM law; same as they are exempt from the Do Not Call list. So it is not a case of definition or a loop hole, they are specificly allow to do so.
    What was really funny in the Florida case is that they guy had campaigned on SPAM and had pushed for tough anti-spam laws. Then to top it off they released a message saying "This is not spam. This is truthful, it's straight forward. We're honest. To be spam it has to be, under Florida law, defined as being deceptive." No matter how it goes that is all just funny.
    BTW there has been a court case over the exemption for political and nonprofit organization, the FTC argued that they were less likely then for-profits to abuse the practice.
  • and you'll find that there is a loophole in there for political solicitation.


    Yes, phone robot autodialers are illegal... except of course if they are talking about something political. Spam and do-not-call as well. It's all in there.


    Imagine the analog for mugging laws; mugging is illegal unless it is being done to raise campaign funds, in which case it is forgivable. Sounds silly, doesn't it, but I don't see a difference from the way they are writing the laws now.


    If a tactic is annoying, intrusive and disliked enough to make it illegal, I have no idea why the politicians involved in this are unable to see that it is not a good idea to be the exception.


    Here is california politicians are perticularly fond of auto-dialers; even the local unions use them.

  • Spam = Florida (Score:4, Funny)

    by Basehart (633304) on Monday February 13 2006, @12:06PM (#14707602)
    Maybe it's just a coincidence, but most of the articles I read about spam always mention Florida.

    Maybe a big filter between Florida and the rest of the World would work, and while we're at it a 100 ft high wall.
  • violating CAN-SPAM with impunity. Apparently so-called 'political speech' e-mails do not fit he legal definition of spam, even if they are wholly unsolicited and unwanted

    So, uhm, how would they be in violation? Far more than merely "not fitting the legal definition of spam," 'Political speech' emails--particularly from elected officials--IIRC, were explicitly excepted precisely so litigious morons who can't grok that a thing must meet some required legal definition before it can be in violation of a law ref
  • I'm seeing a lot of comments here about how "those dirty politicians put a loophole in the law to exempt themselves." I, for one, am glad! This is called freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is extremely annoying...especially to those people who don't want to hear it. Guess what...Its one of the U.S.'s founding principles, so get over it. If there wasn't a loophole in the law for political speech, the ACLU would be up in arms about it, and rightly so!

    On a different note, it is stupid that they are
  • Found this via the spam kings blog, absolutely hilarious:
    http://spamkings.oreilly.com/archives/2006/01/unde r_attack_spammer_begs_for_1.html [oreilly.com]

    Honestly, I still believe that vigilante tactics combined with laws such as ours in TN (making spam a civil action) are the only realistic way to go.

  • Politicians above the law? I'm shocked! (Score:3, Funny)

    by CptNerd (455084) on Monday February 13 2006, @01:18PM (#14708571) Homepage

    Shocked I say! To think politicians believe they're above the laws they write! Next thing you'll be telling me is that they rearrange voting districts to prevent them from losing elections...

  • Protected Political Speech... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by shrubya (570356) on Monday February 13 2006, @01:21PM (#14708599) Homepage Journal
    Just wait until stuff written like this starts flooding people's mailboxes:

    Vote for Hot Hot Cocks

    Write-in a vote for Ron Jeremy this November! http://videos.hothotcocks.com/ [hothotcocks.com]

    Join other supporters of hot hot cocks on our campaign website at http://singles.hothotcocks.com/ [hothotcocks.com]

    Our political platform is the right to huge erections and unlimited C1ALIS for all citizens. http://canadianpharmacy.hothotcocks.com/ [hothotcocks.com]

    Yes indeed, we CAN spam! God Bless America!

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