On Fri, 16 Aug 2002 01:16:08 -0700 Einar Stefferud <Stef@thor.nma.com> wrote:
> Opt out is not a good spam solution, since in most cases, the opt out
> email address is generally used to collect good "live" addresses for
> use by other spammers.
>
> So, we have mostly all learned to never reply to an opt out offer.
> I have never seen one that worked, and now I never reply to them.
nor do i.
the theoretical possibility of effective opt-out comes from having the list
managed by a neutral third party with strict controls; bulk emailers would
submit lists to be cleaned. a prototype of a system that might have been
effective was built by Rodney Joffe several years ago.
> To solve the problem, any anti-spam law has to require Opt-IN
> procedures, and documentation of the Opt In actions. And even then,
> they can fake the opt-in EMail documents. How many times already do
> you get spam that claims they have your opt-in records.
opt-in is certainly always preferable.
richard
--
Richard Welty rwelty@averillpark.net
Averill Park Networking 518-573-7592
Unix, Linux, IP Network Engineering, Security