From: mark@unicorn.com
Date: Wed Feb 03 1999 - 07:42:44 MST
Michael S. Lorrey [retroman@together.net] wrote:
>And how would you enforce this rule without government laws which force people
>to pay? You are just moving the focus of force from where it belongs, on
>spammers, to the users.
Duh, as someone has already pointed out, you bounce any mail message which
comes from an unexpected email address and doesn't include fifty cents of
'postage' for you. You can still subscribe to lists, your friends can still
mail you, and you make money from spam. This is a free market solution to
spam; make the spammers pay for it.
Boy, isn't it amazing how so many free-market advocates become rabid
authoritarian fascist government-loving scum when one of their hot buttons
is pressed? Michael, how are you going to enforce this rule without a
global government? How would you enforce this rule in a PPL society? I
can only assume that like so many others you haven't actually sat down
and considered the implications of the policies you espouse in other
messages to the list. I have, and I've decided that I'm willing to live
with the problems of free markets in order to gain the benefits. Spam is
one of those problems.
>I have the right to refuse to receive any class of
>mail I wish.
Indeed. Just as you can install a filter to delete spam. Just as you can
get an email account with an ISP who will filter spam for you.
>Since the internet crosses state lines and national borders, the congress,
>delegating to the USPS, the Commerce Dept,, what have you...have the right
>to
>regulate (under the Interstate Commerce clause) commercial communications
>which
>cross those borders (i.e. the equivalent of 2nd and 3rd class mail).
Of course the interstate commerce clause was never intended to be used as
a general power for enforcing these kind of laws; would you argue that
the government has the power to ban commercial interstate sale of firearms?
But more to the point: why would a Russian spammer care about US laws? If
these laws are passed, why won't US spammers just move overseas to countries
with better things to worry about than junk email? Why will US laws do
*anything* to stop spammers, rather than being used to persecute people
like you who post mislabelled messages to email lists?
Mark
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