Not really.  It's an ethics point - Freedom to make your own choices is
one thing, OTOH, Theft's Theft, whether from ignorance or not - the
thing it's based on is that, unlike Snail Mail, e-mail comes postage
due.

All e-mail you receive, you've agreed to pay for (through your ISP
fees.)  Your ISP pays various other companies to pay for the backbones
etc., on the 'Net.  They pass the costs on to you (through more
advertising if you have a "free" ISP.  TANSTAAFL, of course.)

You did chose to sign up for the PICList - so posts to the list, you've
agreed to receive - We Admins try to keep it semi-sane so people stay on
here, and remember, you're free to depart the list at any time (even if
we'd MISS ya!)

OTOH, when a Spammer decides to send you postage due e-mail, it's THEIR
choice and their choice alone - they typically send a few million
e-mails or so, making choices for a LOT of people - and the costs of
dealing with that (Larger backbone for the entire Internet, Abuse desk
staff time, etc.) get passed on to all of us, through the connectivity
fees our ISP's pay.  I figure ISP service could be $3/month cheaper, if
Spammers would quit their theft.  Maybe $5/month.

Personally, I want to make my own choices, not have someone else make
'em for me.  [Even to make my own mistakes, like calling a 'E' shell (on
the VGA connectors in an earlier post), a 'B' shell.  Duh.]  I'd say
that quite a lot of the people who know a bit about SPAM, have taken the
"Boulder Pledge", and for good reason.

  Mark

Ryan Pogge wrote:
> You are taking this wayyyy to far.
>
> > I for one was interested in the products Todd was selling,
> > however due to his business tactics I will be boycotting
> > them.
> >
> > I am a bit disappointed that a simple apology for 'raping'
> > the list was all it took to be re-listed, especially
> > since the apology did not address the issue that 'it-is-
> > wrong-to-spam'. Instead he insists that he didn't consider
> > it spam at all. I'd expect this from a lawyer, but not
> > from the god-fearin' folk.  So are we being told that wrong
> > can actually be right?!
> >
> > The increasing effort it requires to weed through thousands
> > of un-solicited email and un-removable email lists, really
> > cuts down on everyone's productivity, and many of us feel it
> > is reaching epedemic proportions. It's time that such behavior
> > is agressively thwarted.
> >
> > It appears to me that Todd hasn't learned anything, and I
> > guess the long term effect of this will be a loss of his
> > perceived integrity and the loss of some potential customers.
> >
> > Craig

--
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(For private individuals at cost; ask.)