Internet and e-mail policy and practice including Notes on Internet E-mail

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Home :: Email 18 Dec 2004 A spam filtering parable Email A few weeks ago I was at an Industry Canada meeting in Ottawa where we talked about spam and e-mail authentication. They introduced a Stop Spam Here campaign (aussi disponsible en français) that tells people how to install virus filters and hide their e-mail addresses. One of the topics that came up over lunch was an ill-considered bill in Parliament that would have required ISPs to provide spam filtering to all of their customers. While munching on the fussy little hotel sandwiches provided, I had a vision ... "Ottawans have a problem. Ill-mannered teenagers have been dumping cans of garbage from overpasses onto cars on the 417, the main highway in the area. To deal with this problem, the local police have provided some helpful tips: When driving on the 417, be sure to keep your windows rolled up If possible, drive with a passenger who can watch overpasses and look for flying garbage. Home owners should chain their garbage cans to the porch or weight them down with boulders to keep people from tipping them. We realize this also makes it impossible to collect the garbage, but we're working on that. You can buy sturdy plastic anti-garbage shields and mount them on your car. The government is considering requiring car dealers to provide these shields as standard equipment. ..." You get the idea. While spam garbage shields are an unfortunate necessity these days, I really think I'd rather put my effort into sending the cops after the miscreants so they don't dump the garbage in the first place. posted at: 22:16 :: permanent link to this entry :: 0 comments Trackback link is http://weblog.johnlevine.com/Email/the417.trackback

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