From: Toto <toto@sk.sympatico.ca>
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 1997 06:31:41 -0800 (PST)
To: snow <snow@smoke.suba.com>
Subject: Re: Anonymous mail as spam?
In-Reply-To: <199703261353.HAA00659@smoke.suba.com>
Message-ID: <3339331C.4C2A@sk.sympatico.ca>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


snow wrote:
> > At 10:49 PM -0800 3/25/97, snow wrote:
> > >     What would I do if I were a spammer?
> > >     Submit the _same_ coin to every mailing I sent out. It will pass
> > >your coin filter, and so you see the message, but will fail when you try
> > >to spend it, or clear it. What do I care, you've already seen the message.
> > I should always try to clear your coin and if I like your message send you
> > a new coin.  If I can't clear your coin, then your message goes to
> > /dev/null.
> 
>         This assumes a system where coins can be cleared in real time, and
> that people read thier mail while online. At least the second is not an
> assumption that can be bourn out.
> 
> > I hope those public key operations are cheap. :-)
> 
>         Or at least less than 10 cents.

  I believe that the 'money-point' for UCE (unsolicited commercial
email) spammers is somewhere around .02% for most of their offerings.
  In other words, they need to send out 10,000 emails and get a response
just to break even.

  So, to make it unprofitable for them to spam god and everybody, it 
would only take a small surcharge. i.e. a penny or less.
  I don't actually object to the average Jane/Joe trying to use the
'new medium' to turn a buck, since I don't think that they should
be denied the same opportunity as the mega-buck corporations.
  However, I would like to see the cost of operations for these types
of activities be substantial enough that they will be forced to adopt
a method of operations that will ensure that there is least a chance
that I will be interested in what they have to offer.

  As things stand, I could buy some UCE/spamming software and send out
my proverbial "How To Make $$$ Licking Your Own Dick" missives and 
probably make some money, since it would not cost me much to send my
messages to a few million people.
  If it was actually costing me even a small sum to send each message,
then I would no longer be able to afford indiscriminate spamming, but
would still have the option to use hardwork and intelligence to narrow
the field of recipients to only include those who might be interested
in my offer, such as Bill Frantz, Jim Bell, and Bill Stewart.

  I truly believe that the InterNet should be left accessible to those
without a lot of resources/cash, and that any effort to control abuse
through cost should be so minimal as to not interfere with the ability
of those who are currency-challenged to participate in its benefits.
-- 
Toto
"The Xenix Chainsaw Massacre"
http://bureau42.base.org/public/xenix/xenbody.html