Spamming works and so AirBnB is here
Why Spammers Spam
11–20 of 29 posts
Re: Why Spammers Spam
#12"As I said above, I don’t have the luxury of ethics at this stage."
Ethics is not a luxury. Properly defined and applied, what is ethical is what is needed to survive as a human (which means going by reason), long term. This is totally at odds with what spammers do, which is to defraud people, violate contracts, etc. Running or using a bot network is trespass and theft. In this context, everyone, including the spammer, knows where the botnet came from.
Yes, this guy might get some money, for a while, just like any other common criminal can (while constantly worrying about getting caught, long after the crime was committed). But compare that pathetic psychological state and the small, ephemeral trickle of income to what someone doing honest work can earn (a successful startup, for example), and you will see that the immoral is the impractical.
Re: Why Spammers Spam
#13"If it was not of value, it would not be profitable and hence, would not exist." Thievery, blackmail, extortion, etc. are all profitable, and yet, I would argue not of value. So is legally tricking people into paying for services they do not want. This is a terrible sentiment that can be used to justify any number of shady dealings. But it's also housed in an incoherent paragraph where the author briefly argues both…
Playing devil's advocate for a moment, No property or person is being harmed with spam. Time is wasted, yes. But no crime is being committed in the normal sense of the word. To compare spam to thievery, blackmail and extortion (where their is a removal of property of threats to a person) is not a very good analogy and I think taking things a bit too far. It's closer to aggresively handing out flyers on the street and…
To be clear, I was specifically arguing against the quoted statement, and the idea that because something is profitable, it must be valuable. That idea has implications far beyond spam. I would argue against spam, as well, but differently. S_A_P's response strikes me as a pretty good one.
Re: Why Spammers Spam
#14"As I said above, I don’t have the luxury of ethics at this stage." Ethics is not a luxury. Properly defined and applied, what is ethical is what is needed to survive as a human (which means going by reason), long term . This is totally at odds with what spammers do, which is to defraud people, violate contracts, etc. Running or using a bot network is trespass and theft . In this context, everyone, including the spam…
In our cushy rich modern societies, there's a lot of room between survival and ethical behaviour.
Re: Why Spammers Spam
#15"As I said above, I don’t have the luxury of ethics at this stage." Ethics is not a luxury. Properly defined and applied, what is ethical is what is needed to survive as a human (which means going by reason), long term . This is totally at odds with what spammers do, which is to defraud people, violate contracts, etc. Running or using a bot network is trespass and theft . In this context, everyone, including the spam…
In our cushy rich modern societies, there's a lot of room between survival and ethical behaviour.
If "survival" only means continued metabolism and respiration, yes.
But I submit that "survival" means more than just that. We're human beings, so for us, survival requires independent thought, art, science, honesty, self-esteem, productive work, and a whole lot more.
Re: Why Spammers Spam
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
In our cushy rich modern societies, there's a lot of room between survival and ethical behaviour.
If "survival" only means continued metabolism and respiration, yes. But I submit that "survival" means more than just that. We're human beings , so for us, survival requires independent thought, art, science, honesty, self-esteem, productive work, and a whole lot more.
I'd call that "independent thought, art, science, honesty, self-esteem, productive work", and keep the definition of survival close to something like "You're heart's still beating.".
Re: Why Spammers Spam
#17"If it was not of value, it would not be profitable and hence, would not exist." Thievery, blackmail, extortion, etc. are all profitable, and yet, I would argue not of value. So is legally tricking people into paying for services they do not want. This is a terrible sentiment that can be used to justify any number of shady dealings. But it's also housed in an incoherent paragraph where the author briefly argues both…
Playing devil's advocate for a moment, No property or person is being harmed with spam. Time is wasted, yes. But no crime is being committed in the normal sense of the word. To compare spam to thievery, blackmail and extortion (where their is a removal of property of threats to a person) is not a very good analogy and I think taking things a bit too far. It's closer to aggresively handing out flyers on the street and…
I can't agree that no person or property is harmed by spam. A lot of resources have needed to be spent to reduce the spam that lands in my inbox. Someone paid for that, and most of us are probably happy that this effort has been made. There is, of course, the time lost in dealing the spam that does make it through the filters. There's also storage space that gets wasted in the process.
Re: Why Spammers Spam
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
In our cushy rich modern societies, there's a lot of room between survival and ethical behaviour.
If "survival" only means continued metabolism and respiration, yes. But I submit that "survival" means more than just that. We're human beings , so for us, survival requires independent thought, art, science, honesty, self-esteem, productive work, and a whole lot more.
I understand where you're coming from, but not everyone has the same ethical sense that you do. I think you would be hard pressed to say that people without those things (art, science, productive work, honesty, etc.) are not surviving. Maybe they aren't thriving... but that's different.
I think Maslow's heirarchy of needs is pretty relevant here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslows_hierarchy_of_needs
Re: Why Spammers Spam
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
If "survival" only means continued metabolism and respiration, yes. But I submit that "survival" means more than just that. We're human beings , so for us, survival requires independent thought, art, science, honesty, self-esteem, productive work, and a whole lot more.
I'd call that "independent thought, art, science, honesty, self-esteem, productive work", and keep the definition of survival close to something like "You're heart's still beating.".
But the problem with your definition is that if we go by it, human survival in the long-term is not included.
Your mind's independent thought is ultimately the thing that ensures that your heart keeps beating. Without it, there will come a point where you can't keep making the things you need to stay alive physically.
Re: Why Spammers Spam
#20It seems karma may have sent him a DDOS attack, as I can't access his site right now.