Welcome to the
Zero Tolerance Anti-Spam
Email Campaign
THE WAY TO A SPAM FREE WEB
What is "spam"?
Well, if you don't the answer to this, you must be new to the internet! Just in case there are still people in the world who are fortunate enough not to know what "spam" is, here is short description. (If you already know, you might want to jump ahead.)
Spam is the email you (and thousands of others) get in your in-box that was not asked for, it is almost always unwelcome, usually is advertising some scheme to get money from you and is starting to make the Internet an unpleasant experience. Another word for it is Unsolicited Commercial Email or UCE.
It is not just advertising, and despite what some may tell you, it is not "free speech".
It is not just annoying. It is an invasion. Often it is illegal.
Here's something else you might not know, most spam comes to you from the accounts of everyday people - without their knowledge and totally without their permission. Many people (especially those on AOL) have their accounts taken over and abused so that spammers can send tens of thousands of emails advertising pornography sites, gambling sites, password stealing scams, credit card scams and so on.
Let me wait with the answer to this while I answer another question (or, if you prefer, jump ahead):
So, why should I do anything?
Have you heard the stories about people being beaten severely while a crowd just stands around and watches? How about the stories about children who are abused by their parents, with the knowledge of other adults who don't do anything? Why don't they do anything? How did the inner city get covered with spray paint like that? Surely someone saw it happening.
The reason this all happens is that everybody expects somebody to do something (somebody else, that is). And, because everybody just stands there and does nothing, a person standing in the crowd can be forgiven for assuming that he or she is the only by-stander who thinks that what are witnessing is wrong. Usually there is a large number of by-standers who know that what they are witnessing is wrong, but often none of them are brave or community-spirited enough to do anything about it.
Somebody has to make the first move and, too frequently, nobody does.
What happens when somebody steps up and says "This is wrong!"? Well, look at New York City. It used to have a terrible reputation for uncaring people, and justifiably so. It was dirty, run down and getting worse. How have they started to fix the problem? Two things: Citizen Involvement and Zero Tolerance.
Citizen Involvement means getting the community involved in solving their own problems, rather than leaving them up to the mythical "somebody else".
Zero Tolerance is the principle of not letting things get out of hand - when cops see kids breaking a window, they ensure that the kids get taken in and charged with a misdemeanour in the hope that this will turn them around before they have to be taken in for a felony. Plus, they make sure that the owner of the window gets it replaced. If a place looks nice, even street punks are less likely to mess it up. It engenders pride.
But that doesn't completely answer the question. What happens when somebody steps up and says "This is wrong!"? Well, I ask you: What happens when nobody steps up and says "This is wrong!"? The street punk, the mugger, the abusive parent, the spammer, thinks that what he is doing is okay. "Look, hardly anyone complains!"
So, I ask again, what can I do?
Very simply what this campaign asks for is ZERO TOLERANCE OF SPAMMERS. Whenever you get spam, make a complaint. If you don't, by your very inaction, you are saying "Hey, spam me, what do I care?"
There are a range of things you can do: report the spam to the spammers domain, send a message to the spamming account, send a message to the advertiser, report the spam to the authorities (FBI or local police), consider legal action, send a message to your Congressman or local Representative, reply to people who have been spammed by your account and spread the message of Zero Tolerance (either by putting something in your email signature or on your web site or by sending an email to friends and colleagues).
First, you should complain to the postmaster at the domain of the address that sent the spam. If the spam came from spammer@domain.com then send a complaint to postmaster@domain.com. Most of the time this won't do much good as the account has usually been stolen and the spammer will have long gone before the message is read, but it does register your vote against spam and those who make it possible. Here is a sample message you can use. (If you are on AOL, forward the spam to screen-name TOSSpam. Here is a sample message you can use.)
Second, send a message to the company which is advertised in the spam. Tell them that you would never buy anything from a company which supports the practice of spamming. Here is a sample message you can use.
Third, if the spam is porn and/or is inviolation of US Law (or your country's law) you can report it to the police or the FBI (follow the link to get field office contact details). Part of the reason nothing gets done about most spam is that not all agencies take it seriously. Partly this is because hardly anyone complains. Once the police and FBI start putting some spammers in jail, or fining them, perhaps the rest will get the idea that we, the people, are not going to put up with their games and they will start to think twice about their method of advertising. Here is a sample message you can use.
Fourth, think seriously about suing the companies who control the elements of the Internet that have been instrumental in putting spam in your in-box. (I, personally, would love to see a class action against AOL and if there is anyway to blame Microsoft for spam, let me know!) Soon there will be details here on a free program that can help you see who helped send you spam.
Fifth, ring, email or write your Congressman (follow the link to get contact details) and strongly make a case against spam and state your support of meaningful anti-spam legislation - send examples of what you are complaining about (but be careful about the legalities, just forward what you are sent. I would advise against sending samples from porn sites). Here is a sample message you can use.
Sixth, if you are one of the poor unfortunates who has had his or her account taken over and abused, send a standard message back to the people who seemed most incensed about being spammed - tell them not to put up with spam. Here is a sample message that you can use.
Seventh, let everyone know that you support Zero Tolerance of spam buy putting the phrase "Zero Tolerance - The way to a Spam Free Web" into your email signature (if you'd like to know how, look in the Help files of your email client or use keyword "Signature" on AOL). If you have a web-site of your own, you could add the same message with a link to this page. Here is the HTML code you'd need.
Eighth, and last, forward the web address of this site to people who have had problems with spam, but please send this message thoughtfully. We want to reduce the amount of unwanted email, not increase it! Here is a sample message that you can use.
Ok, so now I know what to do about the spam I get now, but how do I reduce the amount of spam I get in the future?
| Read the Guestbook! Have your say or make suggestions in the Guestbook! |
 |
THE WAY TO A SPAM FREE WEB