Is it illegal?

You've read my "Talk Show Host" scenario, and you've clicked to this page to read more discussions.
      Anyone who actually stands up for what is right, and what is honorable is constantly confronted with naysayers, or an apathetic media interested only in self-serving editorialization. They'll try to tell you:

• it's illegal
• it's not ethical
• it's pure vigilantism
• It won't work because people are too stupid
• It won't work because they'll make you stop
• and on and on

Pros & Cons

You can dream up hundreds of reasons NOT to embark on such a public movement. But what then? What shall we do about this festering cancer on the email users of the world. People are pissing and moaning about this or that war, and how much it's costing American tax payers. I laugh at their ludicrous complaints. Spam costs American citizens much more. What do we hear about that? Nothing.
      Well, all I have to say to those people is they have no vision.

Is the "Talk Show" scenario really illegal?

If you say yes, ask yourself two sober questions:

1. Who's going to complain?
2. Who's going to file charges?

The server operator in Brazil? In China? In Amsterdam? And, even if it did bring down a server in Ft. Lauderdale or Reno or New Jersey, who do you think would file charges?
  >   "Judge, I'd like to sue this very popular radio
  >   personality for stopping my email spam server from sending
  >   filthy porno spam to children, and fraudulant identity
  >   theft schemes to the elderly and ignorant."

Who broke the law?

Besides, they would have to demonstrate to the courts exactly who broke the law?

• "Who attacked your server, Mr. Spammer?"
• "Who is the guilty party?"
• "Let's see your evidence."
• "Didn't you invite them to your site in the email?"
• "Didn't your email say 'Click Here To Join'?"
• "Didn't you say 'Come See My Web Cam'?"

Announcing you are going to complain is certainly not against the law. Isn't that what they've been calling "Freedom of Speech?"

Who is the criminal?

For the sake of argument, let's say the server owner in China, who spews forth millions of porno spams a day did make a successful filing in a U.S. Federal court. Who would they file suit against? Certainly not the radio show host. He did nothing, but agree to an individual's free right to click to a web address. Certainly not the radio show call-in. Wasn't he just exercising his "Freedom of Speech" in complaining about spam?
      If a million listeners tuned in every day at 6 PM to complain to a known spammer it would be the American way. If the spammer IS hosted on an innocent ISP who gets hit, then that ISP would get the message loud and clear. Chances are they would be more careful about allowing criminals to use their systems.

Freedom of Speech

When "consumers" or "the people" make up their own minds and send out a unified message of some injustice, it signifies that our American way is working. We do it at the polls, we do it at the grocery store, we do it in our churches. If a million people say "Mr. Sun at China.net, we're tired of your filth" it's the American way. If a million citizens say "Mr. Joker, keep your filth to yourself" and throw his boxes of tea overboard into the Boston harbour, it's the American way.
      That's called "consumers voting at the polls through their actions." It's happened hundreds of times in dozens of industries.
      Spam isn't what it is today because of some poor jerk in Las Vegas wants to clip you a few bucks to see some naked idiot. It's about spam companies blindly spewing forth as many as 600,000 spams per hour for hire. They feed on greedy client's stupidity thinking they can get rich quick with no effort by spamming. The spammer gets rich.
      Sorry if I happen to sound like a raving fanatic. I happen to be fanatical on this subject. We hear about all sorts of public movements. They're in the news almost daily. However, none of them are as far reaching, or have as much impact on society in general as spam does. It's the quiet cancer eating away at everyone's time for the profit of a very few.
      Well, by-golly it's high time we honest, law abiding citizens of these great United States launch our own public movement against spam, spamming, the spammers, and the ISPs they rode in on.
 

It's time to stand up and say:
  >   I'm mad as hell, and not gonna take it any more.
 

And I'll betcha when we mount that posse, we won't be alone.

Think about it. Thanks for reading...

Next: "The Fark dot com Scenario"

• #158 Email problems getting SoBig
• #159 Nextel spams with paper
• #160 What to do about spam?
• #161 Legal Denial of Service
• #162 The "Fark dot com" Scenario
• #163 Filters That Fight Back

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