Accused Spammer to Debate SpamCop Founder 187
Weezle writes "Wired News is reporting that OptInRealBig's Scott Richter is going to debate SpamCop's Julian Haight in public next month. Richter had the nerve to file a lawsuit against SpamCop recently claiming that the blacklist keeps his company from sending out 'marketing messages.' (in lay terms, spam) Not surprisingly, Richter himself is being sued for $20 million by NY Att. General Eliot Spitzer. Sounds like it's going to be a real nasty fight."
Opt-Out Real Quick (Score:4, Informative)
OptInRealBig.com, LLC.
(303) 464-8164
info@optinbig.com
1333 W 120th AVE
Suite 101
Westminster, CO 80234
US
Re:Opt-Out Real Quick (Score:5, Informative)
You have to do exactly what everybody tells you not to do, follow the instructions at the bottom at the bottom of the e-mail.
True, most of the non-ethical spammers will just target you for more spam if you respond in that way, but CAN-SPAM requires a law-compliant spammer to honor that system, and Richter claims that's how his company works.
Spitzer: Not someone to mess with (Score:5, Informative)
ROWAN v. U. S. POST OFFICE DEPT (Score:5, Informative)
Appellants challenge the constitutionality of Title III of the Postal Revenue and Federal Salary Act of 1967, 81 Stat. 645, 39 U.S.C. 4009 ( 1964 ed., Supp. IV), under which a person may require that a mailer remove his name from its mailing lists and stop all future mailings to the householder. The appellants are publishers, distributors, owners, and operators of mail order houses, mailing list brokers, and owners and operators of mail service organizations whose business activities are affected by the challenged statute.
A new law had recently been passed whereby people could demand that unsolicited pr0n no longer be mailed to their houses. The homeowners didn't want free samples mailed to their kids. The pr0n magazines wanted to show everybody what they were missing and claimed absolute right to do so under the guise of the First Amendment. (Sound like a familiar battle?) The Supreme Court found against the postal spammers.
Some very relevant passages from the decision:
Re:Opt-Out Real Quick (Score:2, Informative)
Actually they can't. At least, not under the terms of CAN-SPAM:
"(A) IN GENERAL.--If a recipient makes a request using a mechanism provided pursuant to paragraph (3) not to receive some or any commercial electronic mail messages from such sender, then it is unlawful--
...
(iv) for the sender, or any other person who knows that the recipient has made such a request, to sell, lease, exchange, or otherwise transfer or release the electronic mail address of the recipient (including through any transaction or other transfer involving mailing lists bearing the electronic mail address of the recipient) for any purpose other than compliance with this Act or other provision of law."
In short, it's not ok to take the user's email address and transfer it _anywhere_, including to another internal mailing list.
Aunty Spam
Re:You guys are slipping.... (Score:1, Informative)
10633 W Ontario Av LITTLETON CO 80127
303) 979-8035
Aerial photo [terraserver-usa.com]
Based on a phone book search for Scott Richter in the area on Westminster, Colorado (the city listed in OptInRealBig's whois).
Some spammer urls (Score:2, Informative)
Chinese spammer [netvigator.com]
And yet another one [china-pub.com]
home loan spammer [ezwayhomeloan.com]
junk health spammer [healthaction.biz]
Re:Opt-Out Real Quick (Score:2, Informative)
"Unsubscribe from ALL lists on our system. Don't want any email at all from our network? No problem. Unsubscribe your email address using the box below. Please note that it can take up to five days to be completely removed from all lists in this fashion."
Whether you actually want to do this is, of course, your decision.
Re:I went to a fight, and a debate broke out... (Score:2, Informative)
oh my god.. if you had only posted this last week when i had a few (mod) points to unload. Somebody take care of this guy please!!