Re: OT: Spam

From: Dave Glasser (dglasser_at_pobox.com)
Date: 11/01/03

  • Next message: GaryM: "Re: Socket question" 
    Date: Sat, 01 Nov 2003 14:08:58 -0500

    Roedy Green <roedy@seewebsite.com> wrote on Fri, 31 Oct 2003 19:23:29
    GMT in comp.lang.java.programmer:

    >
    >I think the solution is to charge 50 cents to send an email, the money
    >going to the receiver's account. For most people, it would balance
    >out. If you were clever, you could get spammers to pay your rent for
    >you by spamming to an account you never read. Fitting revenge.

    This idea has been bandied about before, and it probably wouldn't take
    a 50 cent charge to dry up a lot of spam. Even a penny would probably
    do the trick. The reason spam is economically viable is because the
    marginal cost of sending a single spam is essentially zero. If you
    send out a million spams and sell only one stupid mini RC car or one
    bottle of bogus penis enlargement pills, you're still ahead. At a
    penny per, however, a million non-bounced spam emails would cost
    $10,000.

    Ideally, users could set up whitelists of known senders who could send
    them stuff for free. (That would be needed for mailing lists.) 

    -- 
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  • Next message: GaryM: "Re: Socket question"

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