Raleigh-Area Spammers Arrested

Yesterday, two Triangle-area men were arrested for spamming. Virginia authorities filed charges against the men, who are expected to be extradited to Loudoun County. Two men who once lived in million-dollar homes now face the possibility of 20 years in much smaller accomodations: prison cells.

You read that right: 20 years in prison. Damn.

Now I hate spam as much as the next person. Perhaps more than the next person, because as a system administrator I’ve fought it at the server-level. Yet, I don’t think spamming warrants the death penalty. And twenty years is a bit harsh, too. I’m more afraid of the government passing laws against things it doesn’t understand.

It drives me crazy that politicians don’t understand that laws will not spam. Uh, the Internet is GLOBAL, dumbasses! Your laws AREN’T (though one miserable failure is trying to change that, but I digress). Spam legislation is not the answer. Only technical solutions will defeat spam.

I’m wondering what got left by the wayside while Virginia officals were chasing down spammers. How many murderers slipped away? How many guns were smuggled through the state? How many meth labs escaped destruction?

Passing laws against a form of communication like email raises my First Amendment hackles, spam or no spam. There’s just no way to draw the line against the accepted and unaccepted, which threatens all speech. Our leaders have shown absolutely no clue when it comes to technology, making these laws much more dangerous.

Let’s save prison for violent offenders. Let’s use our limited law enforcement resources to go after the real threats to our society, not some stupid mass marketers.

My delete key can take care of the spam.