Post Office to Kill Spam?

- 2001.06.22

One of the most unexpected bits of news in recent week's was Hormel's decision to stop fighting the use of the word spam for junk email. That seems to be the only good news on the junk email front, especially with the Democrats upholding the First Amendment rights of spammers to spam us.

But wait, what's that - the United States Postal Service is coming to our rescue? It appears so, although it might be a long uphill battle. On Thursday, Postmaster General John E. Potter, citing unfair competition, announced a class action suit against all spammers operating within the United States or sending unsolicited email to U.S. residents.

This suit is in conjunction with new legislation backed by both parties of Congress which could be unveiled as soon as Friday, June 22. Under the new law, which President Dubya is expected to sign immediately, anyone sending spam from the U.S. or to U.S. residents will be taxed threefold.

They will be assessed a fee of 1/10¢ per recipient for the entire mailing. This fee will go to the US Postal Service.
They will be assessed an additional fee of 1/4¢ per recipient for any mail destined for a U.S.-based ISP. This fee will go to any ISP processing three or more emails.
They will further be assessed 1¢ for each addressee in the U.S. or using a U.S. based ISP.

The net cost for sending unsolicited bulk email, which this legislation defines as any message sent to over 1,000 recipients who did not opt in, will be 1.35¢ per addressee for U.S. recipients. That means it will cost spammers $13.50 to send out a thousand messages - or $135,000 to use one of those lists of "10 million spam free addresses."

Spammers will not be able to get off the hook by sending similar emails to 999 recipients, either. Anyone caught doing that or bypassing the USPS mail server will receive an automatic $1,000,000 fine, with half that going to the Postal Service and the other half divided among those who reported the spam to spambuster@uspostalservice.net.

The Postal Service's class action suit attempts to make this retroactive to June 22, 1996, which should provide the funds for their new micropayment system.

Yes, rumor lovers, the Post Office is going into the micropayment business. Starting with the very addresses culled from spam, the USPS will be setting up a massive distributed redundant database of email addresses. Each email address will be tied to a micropayment account which will be credited 1¢ each time you receive spam.

How will they afford this? They're counting on the class action suit, but can fund the system without if need be. Much to Microsoft's chagrin, the entire infrastructure will be Linux-based, which will help keep costs down. But with billions of spams processed each day, the Postal Service should rake in at least a billion dollars each year - unless the rate of spam declines.

The Postal Service may make even more money from undeliverable email, since all those pennies in all those accounts for closed and nonexistent email addresses will revert to the USPS after one year of inactivity.

This whole proposal turns spam on its head - the more email addresses you have, the more money you can make. And the USPS will let you aggregate all your micropayment accounts into a single ewallet. You've gotta love it!

Well, unless you're a spammer. This legislation, which will also require all spam generated within the country or entering the country to use new USPS mail servers, will literally nickel and dime spammers to death. Not only will it cost spammers 1.35¢ for each email they send you, but they'll even have to pay for bad email addresses!

For anyone who has ever complained about spam, this is much better news than the email tax hoax, which would have taxed spam along with legitimate email. (Hoax. Hoax. Hoax. It's a hoax. There is no legislation pending to tax email, just spam. Really.)

Well, excuse me, I need to sign up for a few hundred free email addresses, post them on the Web, and make sure the spammers can find me. ;-)

- Anne Onymus

Join us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

Recent Rumor Mills

Driver Cell Phone Ban Only the Beginning, 2011.12.14. The NTSB wants states to ban texting and talking on the phone while driving, but what about the other 90% of traffic fatalities?
Buffalo Mouse Runs with Rumor Mill Concept, 2010.08.24. We thought the idea of a clickwheel mouse was off the wall when we presented it in 2004, but Buffalo Japan just introduced its own clickwheel mouse.
Microsoft Announces Cash for Clunker PCs, 2009.07.29. Beleaguered Microsoft, with declines in profits and market share, is offering cash for old computers to boost sales of new PCs with Windows Vista installed.
More in the Rumor Mill index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Mac IIfx, introduced 1990.03.19. This 'wicked fast' 40 MHz Mac trumped the 33 MHz DOS world.
February 14 in LEM history: 98: A perfect compact Mac - 00: Extended computer warranties worth the cost? - Making your PC work with your Mac - 01: Customize Microsoft Word - 02: Quadra revives a passion for computing - 03: Real world performance - DIY Pismo screen replacement - Best Mac for writing - 03: Fastest browser on the Mac - 06: 15" MacBook Pro - Impressions of a newly acquired Lisa - Finding and using free WiFi - Apple should liberate OS 9 - 07: New Mac mini cheaper than upgrading a Power Mac - 08: Falling in love with OS X
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2012 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

Custom Search

Follow Low End Mac on Twitter
Join Low End Mac on Facebook

Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler 11 is now in the Mac App Store!! -- Special Introductory Price of $59.95!! -- To Buy From The Mac App Store Click Here Now!! Or buy direct from Strider Software.

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker and Mac Casino applications in minutes.

Affiliates

Amazon.com
The Apple Store
The iTunes Store
PC Connection Express
GainSaver
Parallels Desktop for Mac
eBay