From: Craig Hughes <craig(_at_)hughes-family(_dot_)org>
Yes, but define "unsolicited" and "bulk"
I did, with their ordinary English dictionary definitions. "Bulk
mail" is "lots all the same" and "unsolicited" is "unwanted and unasked
for."
As with many non-technical things, you don't want to get too picky
about the definitions unless your heart is in the wrong place. When
defining spam it is a bad idea to worry about irrelevancies such as
whether the sender must be known to the target. Whether sender
reasonably knew before hand that unsolicited bulk mail was unsolicited
is also irrelevant until it is time to decide whether and how to punish
someone who has sent spam.
It is a bad idea in general to pick a hard number like 27.3 for "bulk"
just as it is a bad idea to get took picky about "defraud."
The objections to "unsolicited bulk" usually come from:
- bulk mailers (i.e. spammers) who want to determine "solicited" on
behalf of their targets without bothering their targets and who
believe that a little "personalization" makes their output other
than bulk.
- individual users who realize they cannot determine for certain
whether any given chain letter or other obvious spam is spam. They
people should be reminded that if they see a figure in the darkness
crawling into a neighors window, they should call the police instead
of investigating to see if it is a neighbor who forget a key.
- spammer fighters (as opposed to people oopposed to spam) who want
definitions such as "unsolicited commercial mail" because they cannot
individual determine "bulk," they refuse to believe that anyone wants
commercial mail, and they want more ways to count coup on spammers.
Vernon Schryver vjs(_at_)rhyolite(_dot_)com
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