Northwestern Staffer Cancels Spam

Statement of Michael Atkinson:

Later, as more commercial entities connected to the Internet, this rule was relaxed and changed. However, the situation continues that the Internet is made up of primarily privately-owned computers and network resources. For most networks and sites, clear acceptable use policies are published. Many networks and service providers enforce their policies aggressively.

Advertising is a form of protected speech. Spam is not a legitimate form of advertising because it shifts the cost from the advertiser to the recipients. Advertising by billboard, telephone, direct mail, or television are all paid for by the advertiser. Usenet and email spam is paid for directly by those who run the news servers and the mail servers, and indirectly by those who pay for Internet services.

Under the U.S. Junk Fax Law http://www.ca-probate.com/faxlaw.htm, it is illegal to send unsolicited advertising to a fax machine. The intent of Congress was to prohibit the cost shifting inherent in this form of advertising. Careful reading of this law will show that Congress defined a fax machine loosely enough to encompass computers connected to fax-modems and printers. Spam may already be illegal under the Junk Fax Law, although I'm not aware of any court ruling on this law encompassing email spam.

In my opinion and the opinion of the other anti-spam advocates, the removal of spam is not the suppression of free speech, it is the suppression of vandalism. The most ardent supporter of free speech wouldn't question someone preventing a graffiti vandal from defacing his home, nor would the removal of graffiti from a person's home be questioned. Why should our mail servers and news servers be different?

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