I have mixed feelings about this can-spam law. I’m not sure it’s the responsibility of the federal government to step in and regulate email. But I guess this lawfull way of dealing with it is better than letting vigilanties kill spammers, though.

Don’t get me wrong — I hate spam as much as anyone else. However, many cures for spam problems are worse than the disease. Due to more aggressive spam filtering, it is getting harder and harder for legitimate email to get through. It’s common for less than 50% of legitimate newsletters sent to actually get to the recipients who have signed up for them because of ISP spam filtering being too sensitive.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand — how on earth does a spammer like the one AOL busted make so much money in the first place? Are there actually people who respond to those offers to “el_Imin8 d.e.b.t” or buy “VlÁ-GRA VA1ì.UM C1àL1.S”?

What I don’t get is how can someone make money spamming people while hiding their identity. Don’t you need people to be able to, like, send you money or something? One way or another, if spam is supposed to actually make money for the spammer, there has to be a trail to follow, right? Besides, who would refinance their home with someone who spells “mortgage” “m.0rtg_aaaagE” anyway?