At 07:52 AM 3/18/2003 -0800, william(_at_)elan(_dot_)net wrote:
How about criminal charges for spammers (after somebody won civil
suite) with pentaly being that judge orders that spammer may not use
computer or have anything to do with advertising business for set period
of time?
I really think this talk of "punishing" spamers has gotten out of
hand. I've sent an unsolicited email or two in my time and don't feel the
least bit guilty about it. Its simply business.
If you think about the way printing costs and postal rates influence
advertising decisions you'll see this is really an economic problem not a
moral or social issue. In the U.S. I think it currently costs about $0.25
to send a bulk 1st Class mail, less for other types. Is the person who
send you a pitch in your mail box a criminal because they "clog" your box
with an unwanted pitch? What if the cost of postal mail and printing were
to drop to 1/10 or 1/100 of their current costs? Would those business
which expanded their advertising now become criminals because market forces
had increased their ability to economically reach more people? What if it
became essentially free? Would there be cries for opt-in postal
delivery? Probably. If opt-in postal lists were more frequently used it
would save advertisers lots of money.
So, raising the cost of delivering an email to even $0.01 would cause all
but the most profitable pitches to evaporate from our in-boxes.and offering
advertisers an opt-in list would be a great benefit to both them and us.
steve
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