Hi Dave,
On Fri, 22 Sep 2000, Dave C. wrote:
>
> Some moron tried to send mail to or through my server using HELO
> strings with faked IP addresses in them. They tried several thousand
[..]
> I have put in reports to the appropriate ISP's, along with requests
> that they provide me with identification and contact information of the
> responsible idiot. I really want to call this schmuck and ask him if he
> can come up with any pittance of a reason I shouldn't sue him into the
> ground or file criminal trespass charges. I'm not very hopeful that
> they will do so, 'user privacy' and all.
Having German law in mind, they -thank god- aren't allowed to do so.
> While I can understand their position (I work for an ISP too), I'm
> curious why spammers deserve to have their identity protected? Couldn't
> ISP's include language in their TOS/AUP which said that users agreed
> that if they were caught in the act of gross network abuse, that their
> ID and contact info would be shared with their victims? Wouldnt this
> help cut way down on spam?
Well, spammer or not - law does not make any difference, and that's ok.
For example, how can you tell if those real accounts weren't stolen? If
you have a persistent problem with the issue you describe, report it to
the police. They will hand it over to a public prosecutor. His job is to
collect the data from those other ISPs, and he will take appropriate
action.
Speaking from experience, in most cases there are users that are that much
innocent one can't even dream of: Having no clue about internet security,
they don't even notice that their account is beeing used by others more
often than by themselves. They tried to access a service from a publically
located internet station, and got a 'helping hand' from a 'nice guy' next
to them. He even helped to log in...
Anyways, we live in the 21st century, and there is (little to) no need to
take the law into one's own hands.
Cheers,
Volker
--
V. T. Mueller UCC Freiburg, Germany vtmue (at) uni-freiburg.de
istis dicentibus: "Quo usque eadem?"
responde: "Quo usque eadem peccabitis?"
