Brother Dana has a post worthy of much consideration this morning arguing that the anti-spam laws will drive spammers into the arms of organized crime (Spammer In A Can):
Within a year, I predict, the days of the individual spammer will be over. The days of the corporate spammer will be here. And the volumes of hard-to-trace spam that will result will dwarf anything we have seen to date.
For those interested in SPAM laws world wide, be sure to check out LawMeme's comprehensive coverage: LawMeme's Spam Archive.
Ehhh ... spamming is kind of a low-margin activity to attract *serious* attention, Soprano's style.
The way to think about it is that spammers are thieves. I don't mean that metaphorically. Rather, spammers steal marketing services. That's the spam-economics, if you can steal the money for advertising, you can lower the margin it takes to be profitable.
The argument is basically we're going to get higher-level thieves. I don't see it, in terms of margins for making it worthwhile.
Seth: The easiest way for organized crime to get into spam is by demanding protection money from spammers. That may already be happening, I don't know.
Another way, of course, is to maintain spammer resources in places where law enforcement can't reach, like Russia. Easy to do.
This doesn't have to be the Italian Cosa Nostra. There are many organized criminals, in many ethnic groups, and many have access to excellent technical minds.
Posted by Dana Blankenhorn on June 6, 2004 02:00 AM | Permalink to Comment
Excerpt: Moore's Law has an intriguing post concluding that the anti-spam laws will have the same effects as prohibition: consolidation of a black market under organized crime. The analogy, I think, breaks down, however, because spam isn't a product -- it's...
Read the rest...
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