Note: This column represents the opinions
of the writer and as such, is not purported as fact
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How many times have you quietly found yourself wishing very bad things
on the spammers who fill your mailbox with their dross and flotsam?
I'm sure we all share similar feelings towards these evil low-life types
and the way they send hardcore porn solicitations to anyone and everyone,
regardless of gender or age.
Some may think that the death penalty would be too good for some of these
spammers -- but not one guy.
This story
from USA Today indicates that "spam rage" is becoming a problem and has driven
some people over the edge, causing them to make threats and take actions
that appear totally out of character.
The Aardvark PC-Based Digital
Entertainment Centre Project
Yes, at last, this feature
has been updated again! (31 Mar 2003)
I bet a few of us can empathise with the poor sod who, after being drive
to such extremes by a spammer, ends up facing criminal charges as a result.
This is not at all dissimilar to the situation that many Kiwis have found
themselves in, where tackling a burglar on your property or defending yourself
from attack is likely to result in assault charges being filed against you.
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The sage advice, when you feel a bout of "spam rage" welling up inside you,
is to simply sit back, chill out, and take what satisfaction you can from
the knowledge that by hitting the delete key, you're at least freeing up
a bit of disk space.
However, given the number of homicides reported each year in the USA, I would
wager very good money that it's only a matter of time before some spammer
gets "whacked" for their transgressions.
I suspect that hardened gangsters get just as pissed off with spam as regular
folks do -- and I for one would not like to be the spammer who pushes a
drug-enraged gang-member over the edge.
Which is interesting, because I wonder how long it will be before we see
drug pushers wake up to the power of spam?
Oh, sorry -- I forgot, I already get plenty of spam pushing prescription
medicines that are illegal to procure without a note from your doctor.
But no, I'm talking about things like cocaine, crack, etc.
Given that I've never seen a single case where a spammer has been prosecuted
for sending hardcore porn solicitations to a minor, I fear that selling
drugs by way of spam would produce a similar level of disinterest from
the authorities.
In an admittedly perverse way, I actually can't wait for the first instance
of a spammer being physically attacked by an angry Net user. I'd wager that
a lead pipe might just succeed where an army of bureaucrats and their ill-conceived
laws has failed.
Help
If anyone's got an old laser or inkjet printer they're willing to donate or
sell for a song then please let me know. My trusty old Epson 600 has died
a horrible death and my ability to impart data to paper is now limited to
this leaky Bic pen (nasty!).
Note also that the *new* Aardvark is now ready to go and (fingers crossed)
will be incrementally rolled out next week.
New Forums!
Yes folks, good news. The grotty ezboard forums have been replaced with
a new phpBBS-based system that won't assault you with a myriad of pop-ups and
other flotsam.
A big thanks to Managed Internet Solutions
for offering to provide this service.
You can access the new forums over at
aardvarkforums.co.nz
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