Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/17/84; site opus.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!hao!cires!nbires!opus!rcd From: rcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn) Newsgroups: net.news Subject: Re: use of netnews site information databases Message-ID: <863@opus.UUCP> Date: Tue, 2-Oct-84 14:32:49 EDT Article-I.D.: opus.863 Posted: Tue Oct 2 14:32:49 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 5-Oct-84 08:42:33 EDT References: <1531@nsc.UUCP> Distribution: net Organization: NBI,Inc, Boulder CO Lines: 28 > An interesting thing has happened recently that I thought might be of > interest to everyone out there. I got some junk mail. Now the interesting > part of that is that it was addressed in such a way that I feel the only > place they could have gotten my name and address from is the database of > Usenet site contacts...should we attempt to encourage or > discourage it, or should we ignore it completely (it won't go away, of > course)? As with any junk mail scheme, it won't continue if it doesn't work. If you people who receive the junk mail are, as a group, sufficiently hacked off about getting it, do two things: - Don't respond to the solicitation (or whatever) even if it sounds like something that might be interesting. That is, don't give the solicitor any positive feedback. - Send a piece of protesting mail and ask to have them not send you anything more. (It's easy to do this if you set up a form letter to send out.) This gives them a piece of email which they have to look at (because it might be a reply indicating interest) but no return on their time invested. It's sort of like sending back the business reply envelope empty when you get some totally useless junk mail. If it gets out of hand in spite of this approach, the people getting the junk mail could always ask the USENET community for help. This is a LARGE group of people; annoying them even a little bit can produce a "meaningful response." -- Dick Dunn {hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd (303)444-5710 x3086 ...Relax...don't worry...have a homebrew.