From: Reason (reason@exratio.com)
Date: Sun Mar 17 2002 - 00:49:31 MST
Hmm -- I wasn't thinking mass mail. This is a viral mailing tactic along the
same lines as urban legend e-mails, send money to cancer victim, beware of
virus X hoax. You send it to a few seed types and propagate through people
forwarding it on to friends, mailing lists, etc.
People are fed up of spam, but the fact that e-mail meme virii still survive
show that they're still happy to do what people do; i.e. pass on
information.
Insofar as right and wrong go, this is on the side of the angels so far as
my moral compass goes. Now if it involved actually mass mailing, I'd have to
think about it...
Reason
http://www.exratio.com/
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-extropians@extropy.org
> [mailto:owner-extropians@extropy.org]On Behalf Of Samantha Atkins
> Sent: Saturday, March 16, 2002 8:41 PM
> To: extropians@extropy.org
> Subject: Re: MMF-style letter re: SSSCA
>
>
> Generally, I think there are times where bulk email is quite
> justified. If a message needs to reach as many people as
> possible and that is the best means of reaching them I think it
> is every bit as legitimate as a massive slow mail campaign.
> That you don't have to pay much or anything to do it with email
> or that you can reach many more people does not intrinsically
> make doing this by email wrong. Neither does the fact that most
> people are fed up with spam.
>
> - samantha
>
>
> Reason wrote:
>
> > This is close enough to the existing successful "spread this useful
> > information" memes and targetted at the wallet -- I think it'd stand a
> > chance of working. Add a few more major stores to the list.
> >
> > So it's a Good Plan. Reason seal of approval.
> >
> > The scary thing is that it sounds completely unreasonable and
> crankish when
> > put like that below. And it's mostly true. Ever onwards that thing that
> > likes to call itself the land of the free. Hah.
> >
> > Reason
> > http://www.exratio.com/
> >
> >
> >>-----Original Message-----
> >>From: owner-extropians@extropy.org
> >>[mailto:owner-extropians@extropy.org]On Behalf Of Adrian Tymes
> >>Sent: Friday, March 15, 2002 12:58 PM
> >>To: extropians@extropy.org
> >>Subject: MMF-style letter re: SSSCA
> >>
> >>
> >>You know all those Make Money Fast type letters? Annoying (and
> >>usually scammy) as they may be, they illustrate a possible way to
> >>spread alerts. I've yet to hear of such a method being used to
> >>spread legitimate information, but over on /., they've proposed a way
> >>to use this to counter the proposed SSSCA law. I suspect most of the
> >>people on this list would like to see the SSSCA not become law, even
> >>non-US Extropes (so it doesn't become a model for your own country to
> >>adpot, and/or so certain overzealous employees of the US government
> >>won't be tempted to bully your country into complying with this law).
> >>Would spamming be ethical in this case, since the information within is
> >>verifiably correct?
> >>
> >>Here's what they've come up with so far.
> >>
> >>---
> >>
> >>Congress and Hollywood to make you pay
> >>
> >>Hollywood has gotten Congress to propose a law that will force you to
> >>have to buy new VCRs, CD players, and computers. If you keep your old
> >>ones, any new CDs or movies you buy won't work! If you buy a new one,
> >>any old CDs or movies won't work! Either way, we're in trouble! Also,
> >>forget about taking home videos -- you'll need to go to a professional
> >>place if you want to make copies for your folks. This little surprise is
> >>called SSSCA and is being slipped in by the hollywood movie moguls so
> >>they can make more $$$ and force us to buy the same stuff twice. Anyway,
> >>I'm passing this along to everyone I know, it'd be great if you did the
> >>same. I guess you could fax your congressman or complain at your local
> >>Best Buy on this.
> >>
>
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