At 01:22 PM 1/9/97 -0500, Doug Muth wrote:
Hi Ted Timmons! I'm a UNIX administrator and I like to fight spam!
Laugh, see the letter waay down at the bottom.
Check the permissions on /var/mail to see if the lockfile can
indeed be written.
I wondered... is there a way to tell it not to lock it? I mean, there's no
reason to, right?
This letter is from Randal Schwartz originally (he lives 10 miles down the
road)...
Dear Sir/Madam:
I refer to the recent unsolicited email you sent to me. I refer also to
the United States Code, Title 47, Chapter 5, Subchapter II, quoted in
part below.
From Section 227(a)(2):
The term 'telephone facsimile machine' means equipment
which has the capacity ... (B) to transcribe text or images
(or both) from an electronic signal received over a regular
telephone line onto paper.
Since I can use my computer's printer to print to paper your
unsolicited email to me, your unsolicited transmission was sent to me
(according to the above definition) via a "telephone facsimile
machine". Your transmission falls within the purview of USC 47 sec.
227.
(4) The term 'unsolicited advertisement' means any material
advertising the commercial availability or quality of any
property, goods, or services which is transmitted to any
person without that person's prior express invitation or
permission.
Since I neither invited you nor gave you permission to send me your
advertisement, your unsolicited transmission falls within the purview
of USC 47 sec. 227.
(b)(1) Prohibitions
It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States:
o (C) to use any telephone facsimile machine, computer,
or other device to send an unsolicited advertisement
to a telephone facsimile machine ....
You may have broken the law and made yourself liable to civil
penalties as described below:
(3) Private right of action
A person or entity may, if otherwise permitted by the laws
or rules of court of a State, bring in an appropriate court
of that State -
o (A) an action based on a violation of this subsection
or the regulations prescribed under this subsection to
enjoin such violation,
o (B) an action to recover for actual monetary loss from
such a violation, or to receive $500 in damages for
each such violation, whichever is greater, or
o (C) both such actions. If the court finds that the
defendant willfully or knowingly violated this
subsection or the regulations prescribed under this
subsection, the court may, in its discretion, increase
the amount of the award to an amount equal to not more
than 3 times the amount available under subparagraph
(B) of this paragraph.
I thus urge you to cease and desist your actions immediately. Should
you fail to do so, it will be my option to chose to persue any and all
appropriate remedies.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
--
-=TED=- O- JAPH tedder(_at_)mailzone(_dot_)com
tedder(_at_)acm(_dot_)org
PGP Available - finger tedder(_at_)e-z(_dot_)net
If you only have a nail, you tend to see every hammer as a problem.
-Larry Wall