http://www.msnbc.com/news/940490.asp?0ql=c9p&cp1=1#BODY
----------------------------- CUT ------------------------------- Who profits from spam? Surprise Many companies with names you know are benefiting By Bob Sullivan MSNBC Aug. 8 � There wouldn�t be spam if there wasn�t money in spam. So to understand what primes the spam economy, MSNBC.com answered a single unsolicited commercial e-mail. Following this one spam trail led us from Alabama to Argentina, from a tiny Birmingham-based firm and someone named �Erp� past a notorious spammer named Super-Zonda � and right through big-name companies like Ameriquest, Quicken, and LoanWeb. And that�s just the beginning. The truth about spam is this: While the dirty work is done by secretive, faceless computer jockeys who are constantly evading authorities, lots of companies with names you know profit, at least tangentially, from their efforts. [...] �The only thing that�s going to make spam go away is if people do not respond,� he said. �When e-mail first started, you could send out 50,000 e-mails a day and make money. Now you have to invest a lot of money and time, you get a return rate of less than one-tenth of one percent. One day it will become so you can�t send enough to make any money. And that�s the only thing that will stop spam.� ----------------------------- CUT -------------------------------
