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At 05:11 PM 96/09/12 -0400, Donovan White wrote:
>AOL's Dave Long  wrote:
>
>> An unsolicited email ties up switching resources, *and*
>> disk space for storage until the account holder downloads
>> or deletes it, as well as any connect charges and phone time
>> if you're accessing your mail over a modem.
>
>Considering that even the longest email chain letter occupies a minuscule
>number of bytes, I wouldn't shed many tears for hard drive cost or, in an
>era of 28.8 communications, of download costs. We are, for the moment,
>talking about ascii text, after all. All the above comes under the cost of
>doing business.

Depends on your point of view. If I add up my online time for the
past five years taken up downloading unsolicited promotional spams, 
many distasteful and not for children (but that's another story),
they have cost me a fair chunk of money. Imagine if telephone 
marketers called collect but you couldn't refuse the charges. I don't 
care if it's 2 cents or 2 hundred dollars -- the point is that they are 
ripping me off against my will and they know it. It's immoral, it 
displays questionable ethics, but it sure is enterprising.

I don't quite get the remark about "the cost of doing business."
How is paying for junk mail part of the cost of doing business?

>Considering that AOL regularly greets its users with a drop-dead screen
>advertising some pretty worthless books and other like products, I think
>they've got a lot of gall trying to block other online merchants peddling
>dreck from trying to reach their customers. Pot calling the kettles black
>leaps immediately to mind.

Are you trying to connect AOL's online advertising with unsolicited
e-mail spam promotions? Can't folks end the initial one month 
free subscription if AOL's ads bother them that much? Too bad 
spam isn't so easily dealt with. There are insults to be hurled at AOL
but I wonder if this one is appropriate.

Rick




____________________________
Richard Andersen
Calgary, Alberta  CANADA
andersen@canuck.com

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