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by Mike Masnick





FTC Wants To Set Up Spam Bounty System

from the that-will-make-Lessig-happy dept

For years, Larry Lessig has pushed the idea of setting up a bounty for spammers. He wants there to be a monetary reward for anyone who can track down and turn in a spammer. He's even staked his job on it. He's said that if Congress passes a law that allows this, and it doesn't work to cut down spam, he will resign his professorship at Stanford. Well, we may soon know whether or not he gets to keep his job. The FTC has a task force to deal with the CAN-SPAM law and to make additional rules around it. Among the rules they're looking at is "a system of monetary rewards to encourage informants to report CAN-SPAM violators." It's unclear if this will hit all the qualifications for Lessig's bet, but it could be interesting. It's also worth noting that they're looking into whether or not there should be a "Do Not Email" list, and (most importantly) will be reviewing the results of CAN-SPAM late next year to see if it's actually helped at all.

3 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 

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  1. Hopefully...

    by Oliver Wendell Jones - May 21st, 2004 @ 11:18am

    Hopefully someone is smart enough to set up a PayPal account for "SpamAndDie@ftc.gov" to which I can make donations towards the rewards fund.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  2. What do they need to get the bounty?

    by Anonymous Coward - May 21st, 2004 @ 1:30pm

    Scalp or the full head and hands (fingerprint+dental)?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  3. Re: What do they need to get the bounty?

    by Oliver Wendell Jones - May 24th, 2004 @ 8:05am

    According to the fine print... just the testicles is sufficient.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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