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On Tue, 11 Apr 1995 meyer@newslink.org wrote:

> 
> >R Ballard (rballard@cnj.digex.net) wrote:
> >: I have published several postings to this list on the topic of 
> >: advertizing on-line.  The big concern today with regard to on-line 
> >: advertizing is the form which constitutes an invasion of privacy.  With 
> >
> >Usenet advertising is an invasion of privacy.
> >
> >Email advertising is an invasion of privacy if the customer has not
> >specifically requested that information be sent.
> 
> Legally, not by any stretch of the imagination. And you really, really
> DON'T want to reinstitute the old "objectionable mail" rules the U.S.
> Postal Service had. They were Big Brother at his worst. 

Because the internet is a two-way medium (newsgroups, mailing lists, ...) 
it has been very effective at self government.  When a lawyer sent a "get 
your green card here" to 3000 mailing lists and 10,000 newsgroups, he 
received replies, complete with 1 megabyte GIFs attached.  In a matter of 
hours, his server was so full, they had to repartition that disk-drive 
and route his mail to /dev/null.

Since that incident, lawyers are much more careful to select "targeted" 
lists and groups.  alt.child-support has become a great place for NCPs to 
find creative and sympathetic lawyers.  It's also a great place for CPs 
who haven't recieved payment in a few years to get access to appropriate 
resources (lawyers, bounty hunters, social services agencies...)

Knowing the "unlegislated laws" like those in net.newuser is a good way 
to keep your server from getting filled with "e-mail bricks".

	Rex Ballard


From rballard@cnj.digex.net Wed Apr 19 18:04:24 1995
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