Re: Unrequested mail from Mr. Babayco

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 8:24 PM 9/13/96, Z.B. wrote:

>Even if you are serious about this, the fact that you signed up to a
>mailing list entitles you to all of the messages that go over this list,
>plus people's replies to your posts.  The point of my original message
>was that mail from a non-commercial individual, such as yourself or other
>people on this list is welcomed, but mail from people trying to sell me
>something is not.  Perhaps I should have made that more clear in my
>original post.

And by having a public mailbox, you are in no position to say some entities
cannot mail to you.

While unwanted e-mail is bothersome, so are unwanted telephone calls,
unwanted faxes, unwanted regular mail, unwanted conversations at parties,
unwanted attention in general, and "unwanted unwanteds" in their most
general form.

But unless such unwanted things become frequent beyond some threshold (as
repeated phone calls may be, or as "fax-bombing" can be, or as "stalking"
situations occur, depending on various laws), the the law does not offer
convenient solutions. Nor should we want the already overcrowded courts and
jails clogged with "He sent me a message I didn't want!" whines.

The solution is screening calls with an answering machine or using
something like Caller ID to screen incoming calls, having an unlisted
number, turning off a fax machine except when expecting a fax, using Eudora
or procmail to filter messages. In other words, the equivalents of fences,
locks, doors, gates, and other barriers.

--Tim May

We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, I know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1,257,787-1 | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."