# Spammers, you're going to jail! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 30, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087 "2003-04-30T05:08:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/1 "2003-04-30T05:08:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Internet mavens who clog computers with massive volumes of unsolicited e-mail pitches now risk landing in prison and losing their riches under a tough Virginia law signed Tuesday. [http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/04/30/fighting.spam.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/04/30/fighting.spam.ap/index.html) Maybe they’ve gone a bit overboard? Naaahh. I doubt this will even be enforced. Nice to dream, though. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/2 "2003-04-30T06:36:08Z")
This sounds absolutely lovely. Will it work? I hope, I hope, I hope… ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/3 "2003-04-30T09:56:04Z")
I’m hoping the attorneys in the case against the spammers have their most brilliant days of speech ever. I sincerely hope they win. Spammers are a menace. ---
**Author:** ![Read\_Neck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@Read\_Neck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Read_Neck)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/4 "2003-04-30T13:59:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Priceguy \* > \*\*This sounds absolutely lovely. Will it work? I hope, I hope, I hope… \*\* Yeah right. Let’s get the politicians involved. If you don’t like SPAM or your not computer literate enough to control it. GET THE FUCK OFF THE INTERNET before you ruin it. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/5 "2003-04-30T14:33:44Z")
d\_odds places rock back down. “It will be a long time before I pick up another rock,” he says to himself. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/6 "2003-04-30T14:51:09Z")
Some pop-ups are not controllable. They’ll take on a life of their own unless you spend 15 minutes hitting Alt-F4. And God Help you if you say Yes to ‘Gator’ or any of those other Virus programs. Public Execution is too good for them. Let’s make sure we take the price of the bullets out of their estate as well… ---
**Author:** ![Creative\_Munster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Creative\_Munster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creative_Munster)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/7 "2003-04-30T14:53:32Z")
I use PopUpCop to prevent pop-ups. Works well for me. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/8 "2003-04-30T14:54:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Read\_Neck \* > \*\*If you don’t like SPAM or your not computer literate enough to control it. GET THE FUCK OFF THE INTERNET before you ruin it. \*\* care to explain that? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/9 "2003-04-30T14:56:52Z")
The guvmint will save us from spam? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Read\_Neck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@Read\_Neck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Read_Neck)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/10 "2003-04-30T15:33:09Z")
Bitching about spam is like writing your phone number on a wall in a public restroom and then calling the cops because you’re getting obscene phonecalls. There are literally hundreds of software programs to filter SPAM and they’re FREE. My SO uses Windows,has a Hotmail address and uses no Spam filter. She gets over 200 emails a day. That’s her choice. I use Slackware (Linux) and wouldn’t go near Hotmail but use Yahoo instead. I have 0 spam. Don’t even know what one looks like. The Internet is a public place and also the last true medium for Free Speech. When ANYONE bitches to a government entity about the Internet,I take it as a direct assault on my last real Freedom. Why should I have to give up anything to protect you from yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Fin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@Fin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fin_man)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/11 "2003-04-30T15:43:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Read\_Neck \* > \*\*Bitching about spam is like writing your phone number on a wall in a public restroom and then calling the cops because you’re getting obscene phonecalls. There are literally hundreds of software programs to filter SPAM and they’re FREE. \*\* If that were true, I would agree with you. HOWEVER, spammers get your address even if you do NOTHING (i.e. don’t post your email address on a website, sign up for something, etc.). They get it and then sell it. I use Yahoo mail and I use filters but still they arrive. Sure, not hundreds but some. So, if you got hundreds of pieces of junk mail in your real mailbox every day, would you complain or not? Well, your address is in the phone book, right? ---
**Author:** ![Read\_Neck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@Read\_Neck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Read_Neck)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/12 "2003-04-30T16:29:32Z")
Fin\_man: Try these two experiments. 1. Create a new Yahoo address and only give it to family and friends. Instruct them to NOT FORWARD ANYTHING no matter how cute or cool it is. 2. Create a Hotmail address and don’t do anything with it. Write the address and password on a piece of paper and forget it. Let these simmer for thirty days and then we can discuss SPAM. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/13 "2003-04-30T16:47:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Read\_Neck \* > \*\*Bitching about spam is like writing your phone number on a wall in a public restroom and then calling the cops because you’re getting obscene phonecalls. \*\* :rolleyes: Thank God your jackass opinions are a minority, shared only by spammers. Your analogy sucks. Spam is more like opening your door one morning to find 50 strangers attempting to lie their way into your home. Amongst them is a friend you really want to talk to, but you can’t find her. Once they have got in they proceed to deliver p0rn to your children, attempt to defraud you with illegal get-rich investment opportunities, try to sell you crap printer cartridges from an entirely different continent, or push pirated software on you that you might receive, or you might find your credit card details stolen. What did you do to deserve this? Your address is listed in the phone book. You fool! Hide yourself! Disguise your address! Arm your house! Never open your door! Repeal all who approach! Doesn’t sound anything like an idyll of free speech to me. Sounds more like a a place no-one ever trusts or ever speaks to anyone else. Where criminals can approuch anyone they want in safe anonymity. Where those who have them cower behind their spam shields while the rest of the world drowns in it. Is this your vision for the internet? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/14 "2003-04-30T16:54:38Z")
I’m very careful about who gets my email address, and I don’t have any spam problems. It generally works, unless you have AOL 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/15 "2003-04-30T16:58:18Z")
> [@](#): > > The Internet is a public place and also the last true medium for Free Speech. When ANYONE bitches to a government entity about the Internet,I take it as a direct assault on my last real Freedom. Why should I have to give up anything to protect you from yourself If my eyes rolled any further, I would be looking at my asshole - from the inside. ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/16 "2003-04-30T17:08:35Z")
Hrmph. I get 70-100 spam a day. I figure it’s mostly because I’ve had the same e-mail address for about 8 years. My ISP offers spam filtering, and it has cut it down to about 10-15 a day. Either way, it takes my time and attention to take care of these unwanted intrusions trying to get me to “Extend your manhood 3 inches” and “get viagra online without a doctor!” Last I heard, VT was considering an anti-spam bill. Hopefully, that’ll pass, too. ---
**Author:** ![Read\_Neck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@Read\_Neck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Read_Neck)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/17 "2003-04-30T17:10:39Z")
That is not fucking TV you’re looking at. It’s a moniter and attached to that is a computer and it is attached to the internet. That computer has upstream and downstream capabilities. In other words you are responsible for it’s actions. You are the origin of everything that appears on that moniter. If you’re too stupid or lazy to at least grasp the basics SELL IT AND GET YOUR ASS BACK ON THE COUCH. FUCKING MORON ! ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/18 "2003-04-30T17:12:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diane \* > \*\*If my eyes rolled any further, I would be looking at my asshole - from the inside. \*\* Please please PLEASE somebody put this in your sig!! (I don’t use one, or I would) ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/19 "2003-04-30T17:28:14Z")
> [@](#): > > That is not fucking TV you’re looking at. It’s a moniter and attached to that is a computer and it is attached to the internet blah blah blah. . . . Well thank you, Bill Nye the Science Guy! Scarlett, anyone is welcome to use it as a sig as long as they don’t use it against me. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087/20 "2003-04-30T17:36:12Z")
Not to mention-what about when spam is disguised as a friend’s e-mail? For example, it will say, “Hey, how are you?” I open it up, and get “NAKED TEENAGE MONKEY MUNCHERS!!!” or something like that. And I don’t NOT open it-because other times, it’s someone from the SDMB, or another board or whatever. Tough call. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammers-youre-going-to-jail/172087.md?page=2)