Blog Archive

Spam and Porn
I am probably going to get into more trouble with the libertarians as I am calling for more government intervention! The reason? Spam and porn. Jay Nordlinger at NRO mentions it in his Impromptus column today. I too am fed up with the disgusting junk I get in my email everyday. The problem is that it is so hard to get away from it. I am now getting rape and incest emails in my work email (and I work for state government!). I have signed up for a few political newsletters and used my work email in a limited fashion on the net – as a result the Spam has been increasing regularly. I also happen to know that State Senators have begun getting this porn Spam in the same way because their emails are available on the web. Using filters and opt-outs and other tools doesn’t work because the spammers are too creative and too dishonest. The subject lines are used to trick you into thinking it is innocuous and they even use emails from yahoo and hotmail that I can’t block because I have friends who use those ISPs. When you try to remove yourself from the list or opt-out it usually fails to work or only makes your name more valuable. Enough is enough – we can craft legislation that would help put a dent in this problem.
The issue needs to be looked at from a larger angle than is usually presented by the libertarian perspective . This is a problem that involves more than just annoyance. It is a drag on everyone?s time, money, and freedom. Spam clearly inflates the cost of Internet access and effects the quality of service. Since when does someone have the right to send me material that is not requested and offensive using my work email utilizing someone else?s harware and pipes? Granted, legislation is unlikely to solve the problem outright and there are certainly some dangers in bad legislation but doing nothing is really not an option. In fact states are already forging ahead. The feds should provide an over-arching framework. State Senator Ron Amstutz is currently working a bill in Ohio that would give consumers and ISPs the power to go after abusive spammers (here is an earlier version that is a traditional opt-out plan). The idea is to allow consumers to go after spammers in civil court. The bill will likely have a cap so we don’t have a Hooter fax scenario. It would also give ISPs the ability to go after spammers in civil court – since they are the ones with the knowledge and expertise to go after the most suspect. The belief that his will all go overseas is not valid as so much of this is so easy to accomplish here in the US. Millions of people will not simply move their servers, etc. overseas. I do not have the time or space for a point-by-point analysis but this is an issue that won’t go away. Want more info? Check here or here.