> Today almost 10 spam per day with HABEAS_SWE are received, I don't
> see the point of using a spam authorized mark.
>
> I would propose the following patch which is volontary agressive,
> but there is a real problem with HABEAS tag (probably a 0 mark is
> better for HABEAS_SWE) :

   At issue here is that many folks are just plain naieve about
the position of spammers and the law.  Habeas' plan is based upon
copyright law and litigation.  Litigation costs money -- real
money -- and the big spammers have a lot more of that than do
Habeas.  Too, there's the issue of the criminality of spamming
itself.  I don't particularly care if some bloke that mugs me
does so with a gun, a knife, or his fists -- I've still been
mugged; the criminal doesn't care either since the whole choice
of weapon is immaterial to the fact that a crime has been committed.

> -score HABEAS_SWE -8.0
> +score HABEAS_SWE 16.0

   That's silly, and will only penalise those folks who use the Habeas
mark with good intentions -- and whom you probably want to communicate
with since at least they're _trying_ to do good.

   Just zero the rule, and base your tests on something else.

> score HABEAS_VIOLATOR 16.0

   This may be worse than useless.

   As an aside, have Habeas won even *one* *meaningful* legal victory
that had any teeth to it?  If so, are they willing to openly discuss
the details of same (a "sealed judgement" is no judgement at all)?

   I love this bit from Habeas' website:

   "Also, Habeas has begun systematically adding the IP addresses of
the hundreds of compromised PCs sending this spam to the Habeas
Infringers List (HIL)."

   Two paragraphs before the above, they remark:

   "It is interesting that this spam attack appears to be originating
from a distributed set of zombie cable/DSL modems that someone likely
took over in a past virus attack. It just illustrates the lengths the
spammers will go to, including taking on Habeas' proven legal
capabilities, to distribute their spam."

   I think they're doing more damage than good.  Blindly adding some
poor bloke's machine into a black-hole database because said bloke
got caught with his pants down is ethically reprehensible.  What
happens if that chap's legitimate e-mails asking for help with his
machine go unanswered because he's in Habeas' RBL?  I'll score that
rule as zero, too, and let the matter drop.

   And that, gentlemen, is the great beauty of SpamAssassin -- it's
locally configureable.

+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Carl Richard Friend (UNIX Sysadmin)            | West Boylston       |
| Minicomputer Collector / Enthusiast            | Massachusetts, USA  |
| mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]                        +---------------------+
| http://users.rcn.com/crfriend/museum           | ICBM: 42:22N 71:47W |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+


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