copier & laser printer supplies advertisement (really: anti-spam law - a paper tiger?)

[Kurt Cockrum]

References: <199905240601.XAA15047 at scn.org>,
	<199905240601.XAA15048 at scn.org>,
	<199905240601.XAA15049 at scn.org>

art333 at collegemail.com spammed, using the usual exploits
to unmoderated majordomo lists:
>[...]
>BY MAIL:   BENCHMARK PRINT SUPPLY
>           7540 BRIDGEGATE COURT
>,          ATLANTA GA 30350
>[...]

Gentlefolk, have your droids ignite their engines
and load their terrain maps.  May the force be with you...

Unfortunately, there really isn't much of a defense against
this sort of thing except *forcing* lists to be moderated,
which is sort of counterproductive in terms of the sudden
quantum jump in time/energy of the list-owner...

I certainly don't want to become a list moderator myself;
life's just too damn short for that kind of thing.

>[...]
>NOTE: OWNERS OF ANY OF THE DOMAINS THAT APPEAR IN THE HEADER OF 
>THIS MESSAGE, ARE IN NO WAY  ASSOCIATED WITH, PROMOTING, 
>DISTRIBUTING OR ENDORSING ANY OF THE PRODUCTS ADVERTISED HEREIN 
>AND ARE NOT LIABLE TO ANY CLAIMS THAT MAY ARISE THEREOF.    
         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>[...]

Hmmm...looks *almost* like a challenge.  It ain't quite, tho,
because a strict reading reveals all they are saying is that
the spammer isn't responsible if your printer gets gummed up.
Well, whoop-te-doo...

Personally, I think the anti-spam law's bullshit, and I think
spammers know it, too.  It was crafted solely to give the
impression to Stoopid People (the most precious resource
politicians have in a democracy, after all) that the legislature
was actually doing some real work, and so need *not* contain
actual enforcable substance.

Does anybody know if the cases brought under the law ever had
an outcome that was actually detrimental (not just on paper)
to the spammers?  And I don't mean just getting a judgement,
either, I mean actual *loss* of assets or liberty, the only things
that really matter.

Of course, the real nitty gritty is this: does SCN have access
to a "Johnny Cochran"-type who can see this thru to the end,
*winning* and *collecting* a whopping-big judgement to be split
between him and us?  because that's what it'll take.  NLG pussycats
need not apply.
--kurt
  NATO's unfair!  If they can bomb Serbian radio & TV stations,
  why can't they bomb ours?
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *  From the Listowner  * * * * * * * * * * * *
.	To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to:
majordomo at scn.org		In the body of the message, type:
unsubscribe scn
==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ====
* * * * * * *     http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/     * * * * * * *