administrivia: spam editorial, addendum (no automotive or racing content)

[Richard Welty <rwelty@domain.elided>]

a followup to my comments 2 days ago, to clarify, supplement, and amplify...

the bill currently before the US congress is worse than not doing anything
at all; it provides spammers with some quasi-legitimacy and some legal tools.

some spammers are already issuing threats about lawsuits and injunctions
they plan if this bill passes.

digest.net and krusty-motorsports are shoestring operations. it probably
won't come to this, but be aware that i have always reserved the right to
control spam on the lists run here, and have used the tools at my disposal
whenever i could; this includes filter lists, lists of banned domains for
incoming mail, and the realtime blackhole list.

if i found myself the target of legal action that had the intention of
forcing me to open up these lists to spam, i would simply respond by
shutting the lists down altogether. i don't have the stomach it would take
to run these lists for the benefit of spammers, and i don't have the
resources for a legal fight. just something to think about when you're
pondering whether to bother to write/phone/fax your congressman on this
topic. as i said above, it probably wouldn't come to it, but i'm quite sure
that the realtime blackhole list and paul vixie (who supervises the rbl)
would be targets of spammer lawsuits, as they are some of the visible
figures in the anti-spam movement.

again, see /cauce.html for a press release from CAUCE
on the subject of the current bill. i will shortly be signing "Digest.Net"
up as a CAUCE member.

richard