Josh, et al --
...and then Josh said...
%
% Is spam free speech?
I've debated whether or not to jump into this conversation, and I just
had to. My answer is NO.
Taking on some of the arguments presented, I say it's not free speech
because your right to swing your fist ends at my nose, and, similarly,
your right to talk ends at my cost to receive and/or process your message.
I don't particularly care that it costs the spammer little or nothing to
send (a side effect of technology that makes it cost little for me to
send and receive my messages) and care only a little that it takes up
general bandwidth ('cuz lots of other stuff does, too); I do care that
I have to spend MY bandwidth to receive it and, worse yet, that I have
to spend the time to processs it.
If this were such an OK thing, spammers would be skulking around using
free AOL accounts and hijacking others and painstakingly finding ISPs
that are "bulk email friendly" and so on. Now, perhaps that's just a
sign of the current mania and it *should* be OK, but not as it currently
stands because too much other crap, like misleading Subject: lines and
coyly familiar greetings, goes on as well. Creating an attractive (ie
revenue-generating) message is a science, not just chance, and it's a
devious method.
I have no problem with direct mail marketing, interestingly enough. It
doesn't cost me a thing to receive it, and it's easy to recognize as
something to throw away. Furthermore, I have my mail receiving agent
toss what little I get for me so that I don't have to be bothered --
akin to the "filter it out" or "block it at the ISP level" arguments,
but one that is an optional add-on not required just to survive.
:-D
--
David T-G * It's easier to fight for one's principles
(play) davidtg at justpickone.org * than to live up to them. -- fortune cookie
(work) davidtgwork at justpickone.org
http://www.justpickone.org/davidtg/ Shpx gur Pbzzhavpngvbaf Qrprapl Npg!
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