[cumbria_lug] Proposal for dealing with spam

[Roger Cope]

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Turner [mailto:Steve at fadges.demon.co.uk] 

>>Now, the problem is: how do you know when someone buys from a spammer?
>>The trick here would be for law enforcement agencies to send out fake 
>>spam, and fine those attempting to buy. The fines would only be very 
>>small -- say, 50 quid or so -- but enough to act as a deterrent.
>
>The problem would be enforcement, and I don't know if this suggestion 
>would be legal. I'm not a lawyer (I just work out their bills) but I
>*think* it's illegal for law enforcement officers to set someone up to 
>do something illegal, then arrest them for doing it.

I believe it's called Entrapment.  While I don't think it's technically
illegal in the UK, it is in a number of other countries, the US being one of
them I think.

Steve 
----------

Surely the problem is that most spam is sent to advertise genuine product.
We may not like it but it seems fairly proven that spammers are 'successful'
because a tiny proportion of their victims actually buy stuff that their
clients are advertising (and it gets delivered).

Even in the currently rapidly changing legal climate in the US and the UK,
advertising to achieve a genuine sale is not yet illegal - even if 99% of
the targeted audience do not wish to see the ad.

The solution seems obvious to me - get spammers reclassified as
terrorists...

Roj