[NCLUG] mmmmmmm...spam control

[William Dan Terry]

Forgot to save who wrote this:

> I agree. I would never allow that. But, we are no longer in an age where we
> have "criers" on the street corner.
> And like it or not the internet, the web, etc and all of it components are
> covered under freedom of speech. And are effectively the 21st century
> version of "standing on the street" and sharing your views.
> I'm not a proponent of Spam in any way shape or form but I am a proponent of
> the ideals that this country was founded on, and Spam, whether good bad or
> otherwise is a form of free speech. And if the Gov't were ever to try and
> take it away I would fight it tooth and nail. The reason being, if you let
> the Gov't take away parts of your freedoms, they will over time take more.
> Just my $0.02

But it goes back to the comment about the my living room. Certainly anyone can say anything under freedom of speech in public - website, newsgroup, chat - though only websites are really public since they tend to belong to the speaker, whereas chat is hosted and belongs to whomever is hosting it.

However, the biggest issue and where spam differs from junk mail is who pays the bill. I draw the line of free speech at someone barging into my living room uninvited and then forcing me to pay a bill for what he said. This is the biggest problem with spam. Whether you pay a flat Net access fee or pay by the amount of traffic, you are covering the costs of your traffic. This means you are forced to pay for traffic that you never invited and don't want. Is it really any different than carjacking? You pay with your time and your money (gas, wear and tear), and sometimes your life, to transport someone else. It's bad enough that I spend time dealing with junk mail, but to stick me with the postal costs too is not covered in free speech. While I pay my Net connection bill I don't want to have to pay for things I don't want. If spam were not an undercover and contentious issue, I could imagine just how much would be sent to everyone. Who could afford the Net connection if that we!
re the case? Would you pay $1000/month to cover the costs your ISP incurs for your connection for the 100s of spam messages you would get each day? If I were to accept someone else's payment of my Net bill, such as in the case of Juno, then I would have to accept the bargain. But while I foot the bill, forget it.

And back to the pure freedom of speech issue - there is and should be the right to freedom of speech. This means I should be able to speak my mind. BUT, that does NOT give me the right to force my speech on someone else.

Peace, William