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Politech is the oldest Internet resource devoted to politics and technology. Launched in 1994 by Declan McCullagh, the mailing list has chronicled the growing intersection of culture, technology, politics, and law. Since 2000, so has the Politech web site.
I'm not the only person to report spam advertising a 321 Studios product: It seems to be reasonably widespread. Robert Moore might want to pay more attention to what his affiliates are doing before (apparently) rewarding them for antisocial behavior. Previous Politech message: "'321 Studios' that filed anti-DMCA lawsuit is a spammer" http://www.politechbot.com/p-03442.html And, coincidentally: "Dmitry Sklyarov, spamware author? Elcomsoft sells email harvester" http://www.politechbot.com/p-02361.html -Declan --- Subject: RE: "321 Studios" that filed anti-DMCA lawsuit is a spammer Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 18:45:00 -0400 From: "Claburn, Thomas" <Thomas_Claburn@ziffdavis.com> To: <declan@well.com> Declan, I just spoke with Robert Moore, president of 321 Studios, about whether his company spammed, an allegation that has also appeared on slashdot.org. He denied that his company spammed. However, he acknowledged that some affiliates (presumably to boost their commissions) had sent out spam pitching DVD Copy Plus. He says this is contrary to the terms of the affiliate agreement, though prohibitions against spamming aren't explicitly spelled out. https://secure.321studio.com/solo/affiliate/network_agreement.htm Interestingly, he also stated that some spam had been sent out by a competitor with the intention of harming his business (by generating ill-will and the misdirected ire of spam vigilantes). He sent me a report from the spam sleuths at Blighty Consulting to support his contention. Having seen the report (and having corresponded with the investigator for a previous story), I'm convinced. Regarding Virtumundo, the company behind the supposed spam below: I spoke with someone there a few weeks ago and he insisted his company requires that clients supply only lists of consenting email recipients. How well is this policy adhered to? I don't know. Certainly a lot of people unwittingly opt-in (fall-in?) to marketing email as a result of agreeing to a privacy policy that only a publicist could love. Regards, Thomas Claburn, Senior Editor Ziff Davis Smart Business Magazine 50 Beale Street, 13th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105 http://www.smartbusinessmag.com http://www.lot49.com --- Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 09:13:41 -0700 From: Troy Davis <troy@nack.net> To: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> Cc: politech@politechbot.com, abuse@exodus.net Subject: Re: FC: "321 Studios" that filed anti-DMCA lawsuit is a spammer > From: 321 Studio Software <UBurnYourOwnDVDs@vmadmin.com> The company they're using, vmadmin.com/virtumundo.com, is a total opt-out spamhouse. I believe they operate a collection of sites just so they can lie about where their addresses come from. Virtumunto flat-out lies about the source of their addresses: > You received this email because you signed up at one of Virtumundo's > websites (see the "Properties" listed at http://www.virtumundo.com) or > you signed up with a party that has contracted with Virtumundo. To I've spent an hour on the phone and many emails trying to get Exodus to enforce their AUP and shut virtumundo's port off, with little success. We acquired a company that has a six-figure monthly contract with Exodus, and it will be a pleasure to move out the minute it expires. Spam-friendly bastards. Troy --- From: "Allen Smith" <easmith@beatrice.rutgers.edu> Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 12:01:15 -0400 To: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> Subject: Re: FC: "321 Studios" that filed anti-DMCA lawsuit is a spammer On Apr 24, 11:53am, Declan McCullagh wrote: > Prevoius Politech message: > > "Another DMCA suit: DVD-copying firm sues for right to sell product" > http://www.politechbot.com/p-03435.html > > Other folks have mentioned getting spam from them; this is the first > one that I bothered to save. It's tempting to wonder if they view the > lawsuit as not so much an anti-DMCA vehicle as a way to get publicity > for their product. Better than spamming, I guess, (not that they've > stopped) unless they mount a weak challenge they set a terrible > precedent. I fear that about the same is true of Elcomsoft. While I'm not aware of them doing spamming themselves, they're well-known for selling email-address harvesting programs and other spamware - see http://www.spamsites.org. -Allen > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Sign this pro-therapeutic cloning petition: http://www.franklinsociety.org > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- P.S. Speaking as a geneticist with an interest in this area (and a preference for working in the US) - and also as the son of someone with a brain injury that's likely to cause Alzheimer's - thanks! -- Allen Smith http://cesario.rutgers.edu/easmith/ September 11, 2001 A Day That Shall Live In Infamy II "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin --- Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 12:26:07 -0400 To: declan@well.com From: Doug Isenberg <disenberg@GigaLaw.com> Subject: Re: FC: "321 Studios" that filed anti-DMCA lawsuit is a spammer Declan: It is not clear from the e-mail you forwarded whether 321 Studios should indeed be labeled a "spammer." It appears as if the e-mail did not contain a misleading subject line or other information and that it did contain a valid reply address as well as a purported means of unsubscribing. According to a statement from Virtumundo (the company that apparently sent the e-mail on 321 Studios' behalf), "We obtain email addresses and personal information voluntarily from visitors to our sites, and we disclose to such visitors that we will use their email addresses to provide promotional offers to them." Could it be that you provided your e-mail address to one of Virtumundo's sites? On the other hand, it appears as if the company does not have a _double_ opt-in process for collecting e-mail addresses, so it could be that someone submitted your e-mail address without your permission. In any event, as this issue shows, one of the significant difficulties in legal attempts to control spam lies simply in defining what "spam" is. See http://www.gigalaw.com/articles/email-spam.html Doug Isenberg, Esq. Editor & Publisher, GigaLaw.com (http://www.GigaLaw.com) FREE daily Internet law news via e-mail! Subscribe at http://www.GigaLaw.com/news --- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sign this pro-therapeutic cloning petition: http://www.franklinsociety.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------