Letter to the editor. The new issue of Reason Magazine is out (Feb 2004) on the newstands, and one of our Editorial Board members, Mark Metz, has a letter to the editor published on page 10. The subject is anti-spam measures, and we thank Reason for taking the time to consider our views. And congrats, Mark, on getting your name in print.

Good Spyware Link. The Center for Democracy and Technology has put together an excellent white paper on spyware. You can find it online at http://www.cdt.org/privacy/031100spyware.pdf (requires Adobe PDF reader, which is free at Adobe's site).

Bush Signs CAN SPAM. Taking effect January 1st, the CAN SPAM act, designed to combat UCE, became the law of the land today. SPN has supported a legislation solution from the start, but keep in mind that this law is only the start -- the spammers will shift their behavior so the law will have a limited impact. When the weakesses of this law start to become apparent, we'll be quick to offer suggestions for the next round. But for today, thank you, Congress and President Bush, for taking a stand and recognizing that government has a role to play in this matter.

Spamming the Anti-Spammers - Time to Can Spam. We've only had our website live for a short time, but it didn't take long for the spammers to track down an e-mail address for us and the spam started flyin'. Below is one of the more interesting ones we received recently (the company name is blanked out since we're certainly not to give out free advertising to these wretched people, and the italics are ours.)

Hello,

I have visited stoppiracynow.org and noticed that your website is not listed on some search engines. I am sure that through our service the number of people who visit your website will definitely increase. _____________ is a unique technology that instantly submits your website to over 500,000 search engines and directories -- a really low-cost and effective way to advertise your site. For more details please go to ______________.

Give your website maximum exposure today!
Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,
Vanessa Lintner
Sales & Marketing

You are receiving this email because you opted-in to receive special offers through a partner website. If you feel that you received this email in error or do not wish to receive additional special offers, please enter your email address here and click the button of "Remove Me":

Well, isn't that special? Message to Vanessa, if that's your real name -- SPN is a serious anti-spam advocate, and I can assure you we didn't "opt-in" to receive anything. This statement by you is a total lie, so why should anyone trust your alleged opt-out link? Your message almost makes us long for the California anti-spam statute not having been pre-empted by the new federal legislation; you would have been on the hook for a million bucks, and you would have deserved your fate. SPN opposed the California law as too draconian, and we're not overly thrilled with the details of the CAN SPAM Act, but someone's got to do something to stop e-mails like Ms. Lintner's. The pirating of other people's resources via spam needs to stop, now.

Reader Feedback. We received an interesting comment from one of our readers this week, nominating a special someone for our pirate "Hall of Shame":

I would like to nominate Bill Gates as a Pirate. His company (microsoft) overprices everything which may encourage piracy. ("Mr. Fred Flintstone, Bedrock")

First of all, "Fred," there's no need to hide behind a fake name. SPN wouldn't publish anyone's name without permission, and we would only use your e-mail address to thank your for your comments, which are much appreciated. Leaving all that aside, our prehistoric suburbanite has made an interesting point that deserves some exploration. If the Rapacious RIAA or Gazillionaire Gates charge outrageous prices for their products, abusing their choice-deprived customers in the process, do Fred and Wilma then have the moral authority to pirate? To make a historical analogy, if the Spanish galleon's gold was odious, as it often was, does that justify the brutality of buccaneer's raid? Since our site's name is "Stop Piracy Now," I think all our readers know how we feel on the subject. But SPN would issue a word of caution to those companies that would put profit above principle: you have the right to charge whatever you want for your product, but sometimes your actions signal the pirates to "bring it on." Think about it.

A special note to our readers: We would love to answer all the e-mail we get. SPN, however, is a part-time project for us and we do the best we can to keep up with all your inquiries. Please forgive us if you have written and no one has been able to respond.

Happy Saint Columba Day. Today is the birthday of St. Columba, the patron saint of poets and bookbinders. Having copied St. Finnian's psalter, Columba participated in one of the world's oldest Fair Use copyright trials, in which Irish High King Dermott ruled, adversely to Columba, "to every cow its calf; to every book its copy."

SPN considers Columba to be our patron. Learn more about him at the St. Columba Church Kilmacolm website.

Check out the fresh content on one of our disgorged sites, All Palm Springs Hotels.

Mark Your Calendar. The House and Senate have finally passed a bill against spam, and the House is set to convene on December 8th, 2003 to vote on certain small discrepancies between the two versions. Bush II has stated he will sign the legislation, so, thankfully, it appears that SPN's call for a legislative component to ending spam will finally come to pass.