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On Tue, 2 Dec 1997, Mike Long wrote:

> Whoa there!  You are making a common mistake; the problem with spam
> isn't its content (even though it's usually unadulterated cr*p), but
> the method of delivery.  Email is not "free"; transmission of email
> consumes the resources of the systems that relay and receive it.
> Spammers commit theft of service by sending mail to those who have
> not asked to receive it nor could be reasonably expected to desire
> it.  The existing junk-fax law and the proposed extension of it to
> cover spam are constitutional because they prohibit the theft of
> service, not the content of the message.

Using the mail system for its intended purpose (sending mail) is not
theft of service.  If I use your system as a relay without your
permission, this is theft of service.  If I use your system as an
originator without your permission, this is theft of service.  If I send
you mail, this is not theft of service, no matter how badly you don't
want to receive the mail I'm sending.  If you don't want to receive
mail, take down SMTP.  If you don't want to receive specific types of
mail, use procmail.

> Further (U.S.-specific, no less) political debates on this topic don't
> really belong here.  See <http://www.cauce.org/> and
> <http://spam.abuse.net/> for more details on the spam problem and
> proposed solutions.

No, US specific discussions of this problem do not belong here
(current-users), and US-specific `solutions' to this problem do not
belong here (the internet).  Setting the precedent that local
governments can regulate an essentially international medium is _far_
more dangerous than any petty annoyance you may suffer by getting mail
you don't want to read.

- --
				Jim Wise
				jim.wise@turner.com

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