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FTC Declares Can-Spam a Success
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Wed Dec 21, 2005 06:25 AM
from the official-report-went-to-my-junk-folder dept.
from the official-report-went-to-my-junk-folder dept.
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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A success? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:A success? (Score:5, Funny)
Yes. But now almost 10% of those comply with regulations!
Parent
Re:A success? (Score:5, Funny)
Broke my back from carrying the "grain of salt" I was trying to take with this statement
Parent
Re:A success? (Score:5, Funny)
50 a day? pffft
I get 200 a day and you should see the size of my...
...spam folder.
Parent
Re:A success? (Score:5, Informative)
The main farm I work in sees - on average - about 150,000 per hour. I filter using an extensive local block list. For instance aside from minor white listings no RIPE, KRNIC, APNIC, LATNIC ip space can email my users. Much of APNIC is in the firewall, so they can't even browse our sites. After that, I use sevearal global block lists.
At peak, I guetimate over a million spams/viruses/trojans per hour. Normally just before a new worm is announced I'll see someone has turned on the sewer pipe full blast. Desired email runs about 60,000 to 80,000 per day.
If the FTC wants to say CAN-SPAM works, I'd say I have a lot of offers for amazing pills they should see.
Parent
That explains it... (Score:5, Funny)
Oh ye of little faith! (Score:5, Funny)
How could you doubt the government who brought you the DMCA (which has virtually eliminated software and music piracy), capital punishment and gun control (which together have virtually eliminated murder and other violent crime), and mandatory car insurance (which has virtually eliminated insurance industry bankruptcy)?
I find your lack of faith disturbing.
Parent
Re:That explains it... (Score:4, Funny)
You must work tech support for an ISP. No one else would read and online posting on the Internet and conclude that the poster's network cable was unplugged.
Parent
If only they had listened to Slashdot (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:If only they had listened to Slashdot (Score:5, Interesting)
By "innocent bystanders," do you mean people helping to finance an ISP which caters to spammers?
into bullying ISPs into shutting down spammers after the event.
So you would prefer that the ISPs not shut down spammers?
You obviously don't understand SPEWS.
SPEWS does not wait for spam to happen. They list IP blocks which have been repeated sources for spam. If an ISP sells services to spammers, their IP blocks will end up listed on SPEWs. Those using the SPEWS list can block all traffic from that ISP -- including traffic from spammers who will use those IP blocks in the future.
Before SPEWS, "pink contracts" were becoming all-too common. A pink contract is a contract between an Internet service provider and a spammer in which the spammer is exempted from the usual terms of service prohibiting spamming. Pink contracts came into existence because ISPs could charge the spammer much more than they would a normal client. Such contracts were quite profitable.
So how do you fight against such practices? You blacklist the ISP's IP blocks. That means that "normal" users will find that the ISP cannot reliably deliver e-mail. Those users will pressure the ISP into not writing pink contracts and not tolerating spamming. A blacklisted ISP will not be able to survive on pink contract revenue alone and, thus, will be forced to stop writing pink contracts in order to remain solvent.
Parent
Re:If only they had listened to Slashdot (Score:5, Informative)
So they live with dial-up. If the only provider of cable television in my area is NAMBLA, then I'll live with the seven local broadcast channels rather than give NAMBLA my money.
Stupid argument, not agreeing to using 'collatoral damage' to force things onto an ISP is not the same as not wanting those ISPs to remove spammers.
That's not what the OP said. He said "bullying ISPs into shutting down spammers after the event" as if the fact that it was done after the spam was sent was somehow the important point.
As long as you and other SPEWS proponents cannot see that difference, you will by most be seen as bullies and as doing more damage then good.
I don't care how I'm seen as long as I'm helping reduce spam. And I've seen no compelling argument to make me believe that SPEWs is ineffective. Quite the contrary. I've seen more and more instances of ISPs refusing to write pink contracts after being listed on SPEWS.
Hmm, you do not see the similarity to the reasoning of those who justify killing innocent bystanders in order to put pressure on the USA to change its policies?
I hardly think that someone bouncing your e-mail is akin to killing people. Now you're just being silly.
You're also missing something important: It's not illegal for me to refuse your e-mail at my server. I can refuse it because your IP address is on SPEWS, because I don't like your ISP, because your sysadmin "dissed" me in a newsgroup, because your IP address has a prime number in it, or because you tried to send the mail during the witching hour. You don't have a legal right to deliver your e-mail to my server.
On the other hand, SPEWS contributers do have a Constitutionally guaranteed right (free speech and freedom of the press) to publish a list of address blocks which they believe are spam sources. There is nothing illegal, immoral, or unethical about doing that.
Again, if you've got a better plan than SPEWS, what is it?
Parent
There's a precedent... (Score:5, Funny)
It's a start... (Score:5, Informative)
__
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Pen0r (Score:5, Funny)
Text of letter to Congress (Score:5, Funny)
I am Mrs. Branson, a wife of embattled President of war torn
Liberia, Mr. Branson. My husband just stepped down as President
of Liberia some months ago, but matters were not helped when UN
Special War Crimes Court for Sierra Leone indicted my husband
for war crimes in June last year, demanding his prosecution.
Currently I and my husband have been granted asylum in Nigeria,
but I relocated my two sons immediately in July 2003 to Sao Tome
(a small oil rich island off the coast of West Africa).
Early last year, he entrusted some large quantities of diamonds
to me. He told me if anything happened to him, I should use it
to take care of myself. Fearing its detection due to the volume,
my son (Williams) traveled to South-Africa with the diamonds...
Success for who? (Score:5, Interesting)
However, if you want to define "success" as "Good for us and our competitors, who are all signing up lots of new customers every month and seeing better revenue streams all the time" then yes, CAN-SPAM is a resounding success
Next announcement from them will be... (Score:5, Funny)
Wow... talk about delusional.
MadCow.
Simpsons Quote... (Score:4, Funny)
Title Misleading (Score:5, Interesting)
How is that a success? (Score:4, Interesting)
Can Spam = 100% government corruption (Score:5, Interesting)
The purpose of Can Spam was to stop U.S. states from enacting their own legislation. Can Spam made all the laws in the states invalid.
Re:Spam damage (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:What penalty for lying to congress? (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re:How to make filtering more effective? (Score:4, Funny)
I am GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States. Due to political conditions in my country, I need to transport $100 BILLION DOLLARS US out of the country. I seek your assistance in arranging this bank transaction, and offer a 10 PERCENT ASSSISTANCE FEE in return....
Parent
Re:Message labs Data for the past year (Score:4, Informative)
2004: 16,350
2005: 10,942
A vast improvement. Maybe Yahoo is accepting fewer spam messages. Or maybe the number of people spamming me has decreased. Or maybe there have been fewer email viruses. Looking at this year's spam folder, it is clear the majority of spam is in multi-byte character set (e.g. Chinese or Korean).
Parent