Ministry of Propaganda

Ministry of Propaganda - 13/Jan/2004: "STILL-SPAM"

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STILL-SPAM

Last week BusinessWeek wrote Why Spammers Laugh at CAN-SPAM. I can add to that, today I received this one (twice, actually):

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To unsubscribe from this mailing please call 866-457-8755

But then it get's even better. The mail was sent from "hogfishes" <unspoil_fu0a9@yahoo.com> (of course...) and apart from the usual hidden text to get past spam filters it also contained this at the bottom:

*****************************************************
2003 Can Spam Act
We have elected to follow the spirit of the law as part of our responsibility to be compliant. We recognize that not all spam is good and should be held accountable. We believe the founders of the "Can Spam Act" wished to achieve two primary goals with this new law. The first goal is to completely eliminate inappropriate content such as pornography, scams, and prescription drugs sold without prescriptions. The second goal is to allow consumers the right to permanently remove themselves from marketing campaigns if they choose. It is and has always been our belief that this is the right way to conduct the business of commercial e-mail...

We are a legitimate marketing company. We only represent legitimate companies.

World Data Corporation
Panama City, Republic of Panama

Legal Department Telephone: 703-286-2086
********************************************************

I'm sure someone must have had a lot of fun writing this, laughing at this pointless CAN-SPAM act. And I guess Panama City is a fairly big place, how will the law enforcement agencies (should they ever decide to pursue the "World Data Corporation") find this company if there is no street address? Apart from the high probability that the address would be fake anyway.

And while I'm at it, the telemarketers (and junk mailers) here in the UK are even more useless:

I moved into my current home four months ago. I believe the previous owner moved out five or six months ago. I still get tons of junk mail for her. And almost every day a telemarketer calls, "Can speak with Mrs Bew, please?" Today I had two during my lunch break. Can't say I was pleased...

I think I need to update the message on my answering machine: "Hello, if you're calling for Mrs Bew, please listen closely: She moved out six months ago, I don't have a clue where she lives now. Now go away, update your useless database and stop calling this number. Don't even think about ever calling again. If you're calling for Armin Grewe (that's me), then leave your message after the tone..."

Rant over. Thank you very much for listening.

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