Scientists should be prosecuted for 350 million spam msgs in http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r21439972 en Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:44:14 EDT Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:44:14 EDT Re: Scientists should be prosecuted for 350 million spam msgs http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21441474 anon : What if the 28 hits were just other researchers researching spammer websites?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21441474 Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:48:07 EDT Re: Scientists should be prosecuted for 350 million spam msgs http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21441298 birdfeedr :
said by Sock Puppet See Profile :

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

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.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21441298 Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:55:08 EDT Re: Scientists should be prosecuted for 350 million spam msgs http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21440713 anon : 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).]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21440713 Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:04:10 EDT Re: Scientists should be prosecuted for 350 million spam msgs http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21440391 Sock Puppet : 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.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21440391 Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:59:27 EDT Re: Scientists should be prosecuted for 350 million spam msgs http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21440258 anon : 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!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21440258 Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:33:04 EDT Re: Scientists should be prosecuted for 350 million spam msgs http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21440247 birdfeedr :
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."]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21440247 Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:30:06 EDT Re: Scientists should be prosecuted for 350 million spam msgs http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21440155 moonpuppy :
said by TKJunkMail See Profile :

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. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21440155 Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:11:32 EDT Re: Scientists should be prosecuted for 350 million spam msgs http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21440076 anon : 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?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21440076 Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:57:56 EDT Re: Scientists should be prosecuted for 350 million spam msgs http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21440046 ksuderman : 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?
--
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21440046 Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:54:05 EDT Re: Scientists should be prosecuted for 350 million spam msgs http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21440005 anon : 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.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21440005 Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:46:05 EDT Scientists should be prosecuted for 350 million spam msgs http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21439972 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.
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Ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,21439972 Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:39:02 EDT