U.S. Spam Law to Take Effect Jan. 1

We lead with news that the U.S. 'anti'-spam law, written largely by the Direct Marketing Association, will enter into effect on January 1. The bill preempts existing state laws which are tougher (states' rights anyone?), so for many citizens, this is purely a pro-spam law. The FTC is thinking about bounty hunters to enforce the new law (which you can and probably should read for yourself).

Bounty Hunters?

[johnthorensen]

Hm. Wonder if Boba Fett has an IMAP client in all that fancy armor... :)

-JT

For Free...

[herrvinny]

Hell, I'll work as a bounty hunter for free, as long as I get to bash the spammer in the head... That's my "payment" for my "work".

Wrong Date

[Anne_Nonymous]

It may go into effect on January 1, but expect spammers to treat it like April 1.

Posted!

[Aardpig]

From the FTC article:

The bounty-hunter idea was promoted this year primarily by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., who called upon Congress to allow individuals who identify and help locate spammers to receive at least 20 percent of any fines collected.

I hereby stake my claim to the 20 percent bounty on one Flo Fox [slashdot.org], of Slidell, LA. Hands off!

Re:compression

[dschuetz]

Somebody please compress the text of law

It's not very efficient, but here goes:

OneHundredEighthCongressoftheUnitedStatesofAmeri ca ATTHEFIRSTSESSIONBegunandheldattheCityofWashington onTuesday,theseventhdayofJanuary,twothousandandthr eeAnActToregulateinterstatecommercebyimposinglimit ationsandpenaltiesonthetransmissionofunsolicitedco mmercialelectronicmailviatheInternet.Beitenactedby theSenateandHouseofRepresentativesoftheUnitedState sofAmericainCongressassembled,SECTION1.SHORTTITLE. ThisActmaybecitedasthe`ControllingtheAssaultofNon- SolicitedPornographyandMarketi.....

(oh, like somebody ELSE wasn't going to do that?)

bounty hunters

[frovingslosh]

The FTC is thinking about bounty hunters to enforce the new law (which you can and probably should read for yourself).

As long as the term dead or alive is included, I want in!

Re:Bounty Hunters?

[GMFTatsujin]

Disintigrations! They're useful to me dead!

Oh please oh please oh please

Re:What is going on in the US?

[Scrameustache]

How can anyone complain about and Anti-SPAM law?


How could anyone complain about my new (patented) Hugs And Kisses greeting? Of course, its actually punching you in the face and dropping a brick on your foot, buts its called "hugs and kisses", so how could anyone complain about that?

It all depends on whether there is a ...

[burgburgburg]

net connection to that Sarlacc. The three sarlaccs in my backyard are splitting a T3, but remember, connectivity is rather spotty on Tatooine ever since Jabba signed that deal with Covad.

Re:Posted!

[Mysticalfruit]

Now we just need the following:

- Badass martial artist with an uncertain past
- Ex Cop with a metal arm
- Busty brunette with a huge debt (amassed through medical bills due to a 100 year stay in a cryotank)
- A genius welsh corgie

Re:compression

[cgranade]

Actually, no, I wasn't going to do that... I was going to gzip it, then list the base-10 representation of the gzip.

Re:In SOVIET RUSSIA

[Kethinov]

In SOVIET RUSSIA (Score:1, Funny)
All your e-mail belong to government.

-----

Good God man! I pity the man who modded you as funny!
1. Use cliched Slashdot joke
2. Mess up formatting
3. ???
4. Profit!!

There are two ways to interpret your attempt. You could have been going for a Soviet Russia joke, which could have been better worded as "In SOVIET RUSSIA, spam law makes YOU!"

Or you could have been going for the all your base parody which could have been worded as "All your email are belong to U.S.!"

In either case, respectfully, YOU FAIL IT.

(Anyone with karma to burn want to count how many cliches I've used?)

Still the wrong date.

[Tackhead]

> It may go into effect on January 1, but expect spammers to treat it like April 1.

I believe you've confused "April 1st" with "December 25th".

Re:compression

[Crockerboy]

What's really funny is that in that entire string of text, the work "Pornography" is the first word my brain grabbed focus on.

Re:hotmail

[rock_climbing_guy]

Wouldn't it be great if that was a preview of things to come if this bill works? Yeah it's not exactly what we wanted but it does restrict them quite a bit and opens them up for legal repercussions for spam-blasting pron to teenagers. Things won't be as easy as harvesting addresses & blasting users with crap. I personally like it. If they don't have working unsubscribe mechanisms, forge headers, relay off of unsuspecting users, etc they can be prosecuted.

It's not pron. It's pr0n. If y0u'r3 g01ng +0 do 31337 $93aK, 9l3ase d0 i+ r1gh7.

Re:Please opt-out - 10,000 times

[lurker412]

Yes, that's why it's called the Can Spam Act. Perhaps someday it will be replaced with a Cannot Spam Act.

Re:Posted!

[Txiasaeia]

"Busty brunette with a huge debt (amassed through medical bills due to a 100 year stay in a cryotank)"

I haven't gotten that far in the series you insensitive clod!

Finally, some Bebop references!!!

[Altima(BoB)]

I was wondering when Bebop would get into this. "Ed spammed him!!!" "Hey Spike! The next spammer is worth five hundred thousant woolongs!" Et cetera. Buying DVD sets will always pay off someday for in-jokes among small cliques!