Readers' Comments

Reader Comments on Aardvark Daily 29 April 2003
Note: the comments below are the unabridged submissions of readers and do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher.
From: Marc
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Publishing SPAM

Well, I for one think it is entirely reasonable to publish
the screen dumps. They invade my mailbox with their crap,
and anything that gives them a taste of what it's like is a
good thing.

Also on the Flash article....I notice over the weekend
while trying to convert my family to linux, that the plugin
for linux does not support the latest flash format.
(application/x-director) They too seem to be bowing to the
MS only crap.




From: Allister
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Trespass

Bruce, I think your definition of trespass is a little off
the mark.

To use a better analogy, if a junk mailer keeps sending you
unwanted junk mail, is it ethical to climb in their window
and look around, just because they didn't lock it?

And is it then ethical to tell others of what you saw?

The answers to these questions are not black and white, but
I think it is fairly clear how the police would respond to
unauthorised entry.

The fact is that your reader 'broke and entered'.  There
was security to be bypassed, albeit inadequate.




From: Wally Kaos
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Telecom ADSL Line Costs Not Consistant

Telecom NZs World Wide ADSL Wait.
Hello,Hello,Hello,are you listening Telecom.


For $29.95 per month plus GST @12.5% you get ADSL reduced
to 128 kbps.

For $49.95 per month plus GST @12.5% you Get ADSL 50 x Pots
(56k)ADSL line speeds.

For $69.95 per month plus GST @12.5% you get 50 x Pots (56k)
ADSL line speeds.

My Dynalink ADSL modem ALE-070 can handle speeds of 8MB per
second.I bought that modem two years ago.
I would have thought by now that Telecom NZ Ltd would at
least be supplying me with ADSL speeds of greater than 8MB
per second for less than $49.95 plus GST per month.
DVD with TV direct into the home.
I'm not talking about business,commerical,industrial or
government office and departmental rentals here.

What is the hold up Telecom?
Telecom NZ LTDs bus is still standing at the
station,waiting and looking for is driver.
Maybe they have not hired a bus driver yet.
Or too much to pay(wages)at current market rates.




From: ads
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Ok Allister but

I sorta agree with what you said today Allister but when
was the last time you took a walk out to your letterbox
and found a fill page mailer of a free penis enlargement?
Or some other kind of mailer doing false advertising. If
you did get something like that in your mail and then went
to get that special (oh lets say a free $610 dollars when
you go in and see them) and then once you get there find
out that you have to pay $40 dollars to get in the door
and then there is no free $610.
If this happen in New Zealand at the moment we have laws
that cover our butts and we can do the company for false
advertising, however when it is spam we have no backing at
all.
If you ask me I think Bruce did a good job with yesterdays
story to point out what is going on, and if that means
posting screen shots of some ones mail box that he got in
his email account then I am all for it (and its not like
the emails were opened as it was just a snap shot of the
inbox).

Its just the same if I went to your mailbox outside your
house and took a picture of the mail that the posty
dropped on the ground by your box (ok maybe not the same
but almost)




From: nathan
For : Right Of Reply (for publication)
Subj: telecom adsl

In response to Wally Kaos, 8MB (I assume you mean 8Mbit/s).
Flat rate data costs around $NZ400 per 64Kbit/s to get into
the country. You want 8192Kbit/s. For $NZ49. Do the math.
You want cheaper Internet access go overseas.




From: Sam
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: hacking...?

I don't have any problem with exposing spammers and making
life hell for them. If I'd bothered to access their email
accounts I would've deleted the contents of their inbox and
changed the password. However I don't think it's
appropriate to display the sender's/recipient's names
and/or addresses from the mailboxes. I'd also be surprised
if the credit card example shown was a genuine purchase
(stolen card?). Great idea to publish spammer's home
address & ph number if possible though; then we'd have
somewhere to dump our rubbish :-)




From: Allister
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: In response to "ads"

I don't actually disagree with what *Bruce* has done.  In
fact, good on him!  I just disagreed with the analogy.  It
would seem that a true analogy is beyond reach as there are
significant differences involved.

Your points about the nature of the mail are very valid,
but we may be talking about vigilante justice by hacking
back.  It is deserved, but perhaps not the 'right' way to
go about things.

We could also start comparing with street donation
collectors, Jehovah's Witnesses at the door, telemarketing
folk etc.

OTOH, who the heck is doing anything else about it?




From: Peter
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Scamsters mailboxes

Cracking into someone else's mailbox is wrong.
But in the case of crooks like spammers and con artists,
what else do you do?  The police / judicial organisations
are just not up to dealing with this sort of international
crime.  Maybe vigilante type action is the only approach for
now.

Personally, I found that article interesting and
informative.  Although I knew of such con schemes, it was an
eye-opener to see the misery portrayed in that yahoo inbox.
 A sad and brutal reminder of how much damage these crims do
to innocent but naive people.

Thanks for publishing the article.



From: Tim
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Yesterday's Midday Update

I think what you posted yesterday was perfectly reasonable.

You didn't give away the passwords used to gain the
information, you didn't post anything too public about the
person in question.

I think maybe could have blanked out not just the CC
details, but also hidden the name of the person who's CC it was.
What you posted though added much credibility to your update
and I don't think that's wrong.  No one got hurt (that
didn't deserve to be) and it make for interesting reading.

The mainstream media does much worse than this everyday
(hidden cameras, foot in door etc) so the fact that you did
it with a bit of tact is in my books perfectly reasonable.

I'm sure (and hope) your sponsor will see it this way as well.




From: Pedro
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Spam busting

I noticed this story yesterday on The Register
(www.theregister.co.uk), it seemed fairly relevant. The bit
that really caught my eye was the volume of spam these
companies expect - 40% of all email by the end of this
year! This is moving well away from just being a nuisance.
I will confess to having some doubts as to the
effectiveness of any response from these companies, but at
least it is progress.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/30422.html

As far as publishing the screenshots yesterday goes I am
all in favor of it. Most moulds and fungi wither in strong
light, lets hope Mr Suit does too....
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