Richard,
The internet is not the street. Someone is selling a product. In order to
sell a product you must be able to reach them. If you can reach them, you
can find a way to deal with them legally.
RS> Excellent point .. at the FTC Workshop on SPAM this was pointed out in
RS> considerable detail. ...
RS> That the mail was set off shore was not the issue... you attack the problem
RS> at its source ..the business that use SPAM. Follow the money!
Perhaps we heard different presentations.
The bottom line I heard was that the effort to track down spammers was
far too large to be practical.
We were regaled with a story of corporate layering, 18 pre-trial
subpoenas, and various other obfuscations (by the spammers, not the
state enforcement folk) and an eventual result of only USD 10,000 in
fines.
And then it was pointed out that government enforcers are often faced
with minor trade-offs such as going after spammers, versus going after
drug dealers and terrorists.
To me the message was very clear: Legal recourse is not likely to be a
primary agent of change against spamming, even when the spammers are
ostensibly within an accountable jurisdiction.
And there are those based elsewhere...
d/
ps. perhaps folks haven't noticed that a) many spammers who want money
really are in other countries and they just can't be bothered to limit
their mailing to the "right" country, and b) many spammers do not want
money are are either selling religion or the like, or are simply playing
pranks.
--
Dave Crocker <mailto:dcrocker(_at_)brandenburg(_dot_)com>
Brandenburg InternetWorking <http://www.brandenburg.com>
Sunnyvale, CA USA <tel:+1.408.246.8253>, <fax:+1.866.358.5301>