it's always best to read your spam off line, some of it does have html etc. and will verify your address as good. never follow their unsubscribe instructions, they don't honor it and it verifies the address again. i've had good luck reporting spam both manually and via spamcop.net, which offers free reporting to the isp's, or you can pay for filtering, as i recall the filtering is fairly cheap. what you need to do is look at the page/mail source, select everything, cut it, and then paste it into the spamcop window. or you can manually do it yourself. i've got several confirmed kills of spammers, including some whole sites shut down by the isp's involved. you should also know the headers have usually been falsified, i always point out in my complaint that this is fraudulent and usually mention that thier company is now on the "black list" permanently.
aol is a spam magnet, simply because they have so many users and apparently some security problems. i've got a state wide/local isp, if i get 2 spams in a week it's unusual, i usually get less than 2 a month and have gone months with none. i think reporting them helps. i also mention that there will be a $500 fee per occurrence for archiving and resources used, and that the courts have upheld these fees. it seems to get thier attention, and i know of at least one person who actually has collected. just the fear of incurring such fees is enough to get thier attention and make sure the source follows through and stops it. oddly enough, i NEVER get porno spam, and i must admit to having wasted some time on porn. as fry said on futurama "thanks to the internet i'm finally bored with pornography". i mostly get the bogus debt consolidation or business credit card processing offer (yeah, right, like i'm going to have spammers process my credit card payments!). i'm always surprised people get porno spam, when i never do, this may be due to my aggressive spam busting and being on thier list not to contact. after all the porno places know thier vulnerable and getting into enough trouble as it is. i think it also helps to have a dynamic ip, and to not let cookies stack up etc. my cookies and history never get saved, i've locked empty folders with the names for both. this let's netscape keep it in ram while it's running, but it doesn't get permanently saved. i think the biggest thing is to not open the spam while your online, because of the address validation. spammers sell list of email address to each other, once one knows where you live so do others. if they mention a web site or the spam contains html i make sure the isp hosting them knows about it, this is usually enough to get them permanently shut down. my isp does minimal filtering, and it seems to work. i'd never put up with aggressive filtering unless i had direct control over it. that's the nice thing about spamcop.net, they'll just segregate suspected spam for you so you can still read it if it doesn't look like spam to you or you can have them dump it and whine at the isp's. there are several good privacy sites online that explain how to deal with spam, they're worth reading. i've had my current email address for over a year, and still very little spam, which makes it easier to spend the time it takes to harass the spammers. your privacy doesn't mean others can't speak in offensive ways. you have no right to be sheltered from evil thoughts, and others have a right to disagree, and may think you are evil. it's amazing what some people find offensive, when they do things others find offensive, and how they get on thier high horse, holier than though. when god calls i'll listen, but don't expect me to assume you are morally superior until he/she/it does. finally, i suspect aol sells email address, i think it's even in thier privacy policy and user agreement, it was last time i looked. aol just has no sole, and they practically invented censorship on the web. as far as peoples tag lines, get over it. you don't get to like and agree with everyone in the real world, and the people who's tag lines you find offensive would likely find you offensive. you have to tolerate people who have different ideas, you don't get to crash planes into buildings just because you think some group is evil. if you are easily offended, it just shows your thinking at least a little bit. i usually enjoy opposing views, it helps clarify my own positions. have you seen some of the white supremacist sites? highly offensive but i find it interesting to see just how twisted thier views are. i fully support the right of jerks and morons to publish on the web, i think it's good because it shows people these groups really do exist and what thier agenda is. if you read the nazi garbage you can't help but think they are twisted if you're a remotely normal person. by the way, i do consider myself both highly spiritual and good. i'm the type of person who'd risk injury to themselves to help a stranger rather than just watching. real women aren't afraid of porn, it's not all degrading, and some of it is actually rather uplifting, at least to some. argh, another rant. i'll try to stop, at least for awhile. Kathi Anderson wrote: > > on 3/27/02 12:41 PM, Kyle Hansen at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > > > > > Philip Stortz wrote: -------------------snip of something someone found offensive....... > > > > Amen Brother. That's why I hate AOL...in a nutshell. > > > snip > I have had AOL for over 10 years, on the cheap 4.95 plan, just to keep the > same address and stay in touch with some old friends that don't use the > email that often. I have had earthlink for only about 2 years. The amount of > SPAM I get on AOL is enormous! And believe me I have done nothing but delete > them, but as I understand it, that is enough to validate the address and > then it just multipies from there. Early on, I tried to send back the notice > to remove my address, but either nothing happened or it bounced back from > the Postmaster. Even called AOL to complain, but that did nothing at all. > I have no evidence that screening is in place, even some of the tag lines > have very offensive language. I just keep on deleting 70% of my email from > AOL. > > The point I want to make is this: Since I have two ISP's, I can compare. > Earthlink had no SPAM at all for over a year, now it is beginning to show > up. AOL started off the same way. If I were to keep my same AOL address, I > expect in a few years, 95% of my email would be objectionable SPAM. I > suspect Earthlink would not be so bad, but I see it creeping in now. > Conclusion: change your address every so often. I for one hate to do this, > since it seems that these evil characters have made me do something against > my will, and I don't like it! But, I realize that there are sacrafices to be > made to one's privacy if one wants to communicate on such a grand level as > the Internet. It is still a little sobering to see such filth exists in the > world. We are all connected to one another, whether we like it or not. > > Kathi ----------------------------------- -- A man may conduct himself well in both adversity and good fortune, but if you want to test his character, give him power. �ABRAHAM LINCOLN -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! <http://www.applelinks.com>
