TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·Comcast
1 edit |  Scientists should be prosecuted for 350 million spam msgs
Using 'proxy bots' the researchers used 75,869 zombie machines to conduct a fake spam campaign. "After 26 days, and almost 350 million email messages, only 28 sales resulted," says the research paper -- a response rate of just 0.00001 per cent - but still hugely profitable. Did they get law enforcement OK to send out 350 million spam msgs? If not, they should be prosecuted for sending spam email. They could have done their research in other ways than actually sending out 350 million spam emails.
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AnonDuffer
@kaballero.com | Ayup!
Usually when someone publicly admits to a crime some aspiring young prosecutor jumps up to prosecute.
They spammed. They sold. They profited. They admit it.
Easy enough to try this one. |
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ksuderman
join:2001-10-21
Poughkeepsie, NY
| reply to TKJunkMail
I was wondering the same thing, and not only law enforcement but the university's ok for this. Not only did the researchers send out spam they also committed 76,000 acts of criminal trespass. Most "respectable" universities have ethics guidelines for researchers: first commit no crimes, second don't use humans without their informed consent. I wonder if the researchers got the informed consent of the 76,000 owners of the zombie machines they took over?
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In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is. |
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AnonDuffer
@kaballero.com | reply to TKJunkMail
Ain't the power of censorship a heady brew? Karl?
They sent the spam.
They sold the product.
They profited.
They admit it.
I think prosecution is appropriate, or am I not even allowed to have an opinion? |
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moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to TKJunkMail
said by TKJunkMail  :Using 'proxy bots' the researchers used 75,869 zombie machines to conduct a fake spam campaign. "After 26 days, and almost 350 million email messages, only 28 sales resulted," says the research paper -- a response rate of just 0.00001 per cent - but still hugely profitable. Did they get law enforcement OK to send out 350 million spam msgs? If not, they should be prosecuted for sending spam email. They could have done their research in other ways than actually sending out 350 million spam emails. It's not like the ISP are going to stop it anytime soon. |
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birdfeedr
Premium,MVM
join:2001-08-11
Warwick, RI
 ·Verizon FIOS
| reply to AnonDuffer
Re: Scientists should be prosecuted for 350 million spam msgs
said by AnonDuffer :
or am I not even allowed to have an opinion?
You have it, and you told us twice! Impatient much?
Actually, I've gotten stuck in the technology loop too. Called in to a local talk radio show, and it sounded like I was cut off, so I called back, and sounded like I was cut off again. So with the phone still connected I launched into a long, creative string of expletives that would make a sailor blush, then hung up.
Turned on the radio to hear the tail end of the host chastising me for my response. "Tell us what you really think." |
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LiersAllOfThem
@mi.us
| reply to ksuderman
Now see... thats the problem with this country....
Too many Lawyers waiting to sue at the drop of a hat.
Who wants to do research when you have a group
of lawyers leerking overhead waiting for something
to sue about. Get a stinking life! |
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Sock Puppet
Premium
join:2000-10-09
Parker, CO
| reply to AnonDuffer
They never actually sold anything, they stopped short of doing so as the article conviently left that out:
This article has more detail:
»voices.washingtonpost.com/securi···_at.html
To this point no one has been successful in stopping spam. It seems like the next logical step is getting in the spamers minds and determining their distribution avenues and success rates. If ultimately their research can be used to help stop spam, I personally do not care that I got one extra spam, with a link that I would have never clicked anyway, going to a site where you actually could not purchase anything. |
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meh37
@verizon.net
| reply to TKJunkMail
Spam isn't actually illegal, as long as you conform to the "directives" of CAN-SPAM (hence the "I CAN SPAM" moniker), which I would presume they did.
I don't see, though, how "28 sales" indicates to "hugely" profitable. Well, there's a sucker born every minute... or 28 suckers... or anyone who opens junk mail (dumb) & clicks on a link (dumber). |
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birdfeedr
Premium,MVM
join:2001-08-11
Warwick, RI
·Verizon FIOS
| reply to Sock Puppet
Thanks for the link. Reading it, it appears that the researchers did not use the botnet to send spams. Instead they hijacked a small enough number of nodes to change the spams that were already going out (under someone else's direction, so charge them with malfeasance, if you can find them). Instead they were re-directed to the researcher's fake pharmaceutical website. The fake pharmaceutical website worked up to the point of checking out, so there were no personal or financial details invloved.
The spams which, when clicked, would have infected the users with malware, redirected the click-ers to a website that merely counted hits.
None of the above by the researchers is actionable. And trying to get a handle on the spam scourge by understanding some of the dynamics is within the realm of ethical. |
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meh37
@verizon.net | What if the 28 hits were just other researchers researching spammer websites? |
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