[svlug] Re: Mailing List Archive and Spam

[Deirdre Saoirse]

On Thu, 25 Jan 2001, Rick Moen wrote:

> begin  Wayne Earl quotation:
>
> > On a similar topic, I find it rather amazing that people belly ache
> > constantly about email spam, yet I've rarely heard anyone complain about
> > the endless stream of junk mail that people recieve.
>
> Junk mail costs are paid (overwhelmingly) by the senders.  Spam costs
> are paid (overwhelmingly) by the recipients.
>
> Junk mail in the USA substantially subsidises regular USPS mail
> service. Spam is subsidised _by_ legitimate providers and customers of
> connectivity.

Perhaps more importantly, there exists an effective mechanism for tracking
and prosecuting people who perpetuate chain letters and scams via postal
mail. Ergo, we tend not to get most of the kind of crap I now get as spam
via postal mail.

_Deirdre