Article 14170 of alt.sex.cthulhu: From: Justin Martin Campbell Newsgroups: alt.sex.cthulhu Subject: POD: Re: WAR JOURNAL: My battle with the spammers Date: 10 Mar 1997 06:42:15 GMT Andrew Nellis wrote: >Day one: > >Feeling tough, feeling good, feeling outraged. I transfer every piece of >spam on alt.sex.cthulhu to my work directory and begin searching headers >for /actual/ addresses. Discover that there are about 15 posters >responsible for 150 postings. Action taken: E-mailed 15 post-masters, and >5 spammers. Let the battle begin. >Day two: > >Got several form letters from AOL and one from Pacbell. No response from >anyone else. Did get a pile of junk e-mail. Sent mail to 20 more >postmasters. Frustration starting to build. Never fear. We are behind you. (Okay, maybe you should fear us behind you.) >Day three: > >Success! E-mail from "Free Stamp spam" site indicates they are "keeping an >eye" on the the guy, and if it happens again, will turf him. Another form >letter from AOL, this time from their "abuse" section. Feeling cocky at >success, post message to alt.sex.cthulhu to crow. Include letter from the >"Free Stamp spam" people. Sent mail to 15 more postmasters. The battle continues. >Day four: > >The horror! The horror! My alt.sex.cthulhu message boasting of my >battles with spammers -- has been CANCELLED. Discover some Usenet >vigilante's cancelbot has cancelled my message and sent a complaint to my >postmaster because my message contained the 2-line text of the "Free >Stamp" advertisement within the text of the letter from the spammer's >host. Reeling and on the ropes, I nonetheless send mail to 20 more >postmasters, as well as my OWN postmaster and one vigilante nitwit who >deleted the only /actual/ message that day in alt.sex.cthulhu and left >over a hundred spams untouched. Aah, friendly fire. With minor wounds, the platoon sets out over the top again. >Day five: > >Terse mail from my postmaster saying he will "look into it." Whiny mail >from Usenet vigilante complaining that I obviously didn't appreciate his >efforts, that he was responsible for cancelling thousands of spams a day, >and that, in any case, my posting replies to the spammers wasn't going to >stop them. At the end of his tirade, he includes a sulky "Sorry your >posting got caught." Consider mailing him back to point out that I wasn't >posting a reply to spammers. Decline to provoke the man with such blatant >logic, in case the REST of my postings go Missing In Action. Sent mail to >twenty more postmasters. Reeling with the knowledge of the power of the dark side, he makes a wise choice. >Day six: > >Supplies low. Spirit drooping. Decide not to do anything at all today >except lie in bed, read "Nero Wolfe" novels by Rex Stout, and eat crackers >with cheddar cheese and chicken-liverwurst-with-herbs pate. The team drops back to friendly lines, healing wounds, and preparing to go again. >Day seven: (God rested.) >Two replies from spammers, saying "sorry." One letter from spammer >postmaster saying he'd "take care of it." Spirits picking up. Supplies >still low. Decide to post message to alt.sex.cthulhu and see if anyone >will send me more chicken-liverwurst-with-herbs pate. > >Er, that's it. All of us back home are cheering you on. Unfortunately, we can't figure out how to send pate electronically. Research funds are being transfered to the Foods R&D lab, in hopes that we can hope the boys abroad. Well, two people have said sorry, but have they stopped the carnage? We can only hope so. Please keep us informed on the conditions of the front line, and let us know when reserves get low, and you must call for backup. Justin Campbell War Chronicler. -- __ (oO) Cthulhu For President, why vote for the lesser of two evils? /||\ http://www.cthulhu.org/