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November 19, 2004

Why the spam keeps coming

Forbes tech journalist Arik Hesseldahl has a column today about Spam Kings and the intractability of the spam problem. Arik observes, with some distress:

Despite all the claims by consumers that they are careful about what they buy over the Internet and from whom, there are still enough people out there willing to say, "Oh, what the heck," and whip out a credit card to buy a bottle of three pills meant to enhance their anatomy. For a spammer, it only takes a few suckers per message sent to make his business profitable.

That sentiment is shared by John Clayton, who writes a regular column for the Manchester Union-Leader (yes, that Union-Leader). When Clayton interviewed me about Spam Kings, he admitted that he was fed up with the way spam, pop-ups and other Internet garbage was intruding on his life.

"In the interest of full disclosure, I won’t even attempt to feign disinterest or detachment. Instead, you should know that I approach today’s assignment as one truly ticked-off typist," he writes in the Sunday Nov. 14 issue. Clayton then proceeds to compare spammers to cockroaches, and he bemoans the “brown-wrapper crowd” that keeps them in business.

Posted by brian at November 19, 2004 4:51 PM