On Mon, 24 Nov 1997, Greg A. Woods wrote:
> [ On Mon, November 24, 1997 at 16:44:33 (-0800), George Bonser wrote: ]
> > You can not deny credit to everyone living on a particular street simply
> > because there are a couple of deadbeats in the neighborhood.
> > What you are saying is to deny someone credit because their neighbor does
> > not pay their bills.
> > I do not think this will go far. The parctice is called "redlining" in
> > the US and is illegal.
> A more correct one would be to compare net blocking to denying credit to
> everyone in a communal home because one of the commune members has a bad
> rating. After all they share everything, the good and the bad, right?
No they don't share everything. The innocent users of a spam-friendly mail
host take part in nothing more than the use of services for a fee. Where
in heaven's name is there *any* notion that such users share in profits,
or own a piece of the assets, or have any say in the decisions?
> Somewhere we must draw the line.
I draw mine when people refuse to take responsibilty for their actions,
hiding behind forged IDs and innocent relay hosts.
Sources of "unsolicited" email who identify themselves, and are willing
to take the consequences for their actions, and respect "don't mail me"
messges, may be a nuisance to some but are not in the same league as the
cowards.
It's all fine-sounding righteousness to bitch and moan about unwanted
commercial intrusions, but broadcast ads help pay for content on the
airwaves, and printed junk-flyer delivery often helps subsidize the costs
of regular mail. While I agree that the current nature of spamming is
unacceptable, I attribute part of this to the web's immaturity as a social
phenominon.
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