[ale] (no subject) SPAM talk...

[James P. Kinney III]

On Sat, 2004-04-17 at 15:39, ChangingLINKS.com wrote:
> > You miss my point.  If it is programatically obscured it can be
> > recovered.  You substitute "at" or "(at)" or "( at )", and it's
> > nothing to undo (c.f. the previous script).
> > -- 
> > Fletch                | "If you find my answers frightening,       __`'/|
> 
> I understand what you have said clearly. 
> While I disagree that spammers will harvest in this way for reasons mentioned 
> earlier:
> 1. I think it is bad policy to simply offer the email addresses plainly.
> 2. I feel that the ike server solution is sufficient.
> 3. We can simply replace email addresses with member IDs keyed in a very 
> simple mySQL database.
> 
> Harvest that.
> 
> The latter solution will even stop the M$ spam problems. The only drawback is 
> that the user would need to pass email via the ALE server to contact other 
> members INITIALLY. However ALL ALE spam problems would be eraticated.

As the ALE list archives are a matter of public record, they serve a
useful public service when a non-ale person does a Google search
concerning a problem they are having and finds the solution on the ALE
archives. 

This is a good reason to NOT close the archives to non-subscribers.
Besides, a spammer only has to subscribe, suck out the emails from the
archives, unsubscribe and blast away.

There is NO SOLUTION to this problem that will not have a detrimental
effect that may be greater than the initial problem. Fletch has
demonstrated that obfuscation is not an answer.

About once a month, I get an email from someone I have never seen on the
ALE list. They found my address through a Google search of the ALE
archives and saw my name as someone who had worked on/helped with/solved
a problem similar to one they are having. I do not want that secondary
exposure to what capabilities I have to offer to go away just because
some bad guys are out there. 

As the people who do spam studies have found that the vast bulk of spam
originates from 3-4 people, the removal of those 3-4 people from access
to computer technology would have a tremendous effect on the global spam
volume. Eventually, someone with more access to legal prowess than
anyone on this list will get tired of waiting for the neutered lawmakers
to put these 3-4 people someplace where they are no longer capable of
doing their garbage.  When that happens, I hope it looks like something
from the end of Fargo except feet first.

-- 
James P. Kinney III          \Changing the mobile computing world/
CEO & Director of Engineering \          one Linux user         /
Local Net Solutions,LLC        \           at a time.          /
770-493-8244                    \.___________________________./
http://www.localnetsolutions.com

GPG ID: 829C6CA7 James P. Kinney III (M.S. Physics)
<jkinney at localnetsolutions.com>
Fingerprint = 3C9E 6366 54FC A3FE BA4D 0659 6190 ADC3 829C 6CA7
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