The man was frustrated because he was having difficulty getting unsubscribed from newsletter, so he filed a complaint against everyone who was listed in body of message, rather than just list owner. It was his frustration, anger and ignorance that fueled this nasty little affair.

My friend lives in a very small town in Canada that has only one ISP. The Upline Provider for local ISP was demanding her account to be turned off permanently because of this accusation which was later dropped. The local ISP stood their ground on behalf of their customer --- my friend --- though this action could have seriously hampered their ability to provide their customers with Internet access.

Even in dropping his claim against my friend, person who filed complaint insisted that my friend was somehow still responsible for his inability to unsubscribe from newsletter in question!

The person who filed this complaint was using a system designed by programmer Julian Haight to combat spam email called SpamCops.net.

INTO THE PIT: In my original copy written September 10th, I had compared tactics of few diehard SpamCop anti-spammers to tactics of a terrorist.

In wake of September 11th, it did not seem appropriate to refer to SpamCop fanatics as terrorists. However closely tactics used by SpamCop fanatics coincides with tactics used by al-Qaida terrorist network led by Osama bin Laden, SpamCop does not resort to murder.

Due to SpamCop.net's unwillingness to provide a real person contact for resolution of complaints, I was forced to turn to their discussion board to find resolution I was seeking --- a resolution, which by way, was never found.

My major complaint was that for someone to file against another simply because their email address or website appeared in someone else's ezine was improper.

Many members had knee jerk reactions to my questioning their system from within their inner sanctum. Many resorted to name calling and angry retort until a list administrator called them down. After list administrator directly addressed their inappropriate comments, I received three open apologies from members of group.

PUBLISHERS BEWARE. Over course of next few days, I watched their discussions. I was appalled to learn that many of them put email addresses in circulation just so that they can torment others with spam accusations.

As an owner of several discussion lists and newsletters, I now make it a standard policy to bar participation in my groups by someone sporting a SpamCop.net email address.

I had tried to observe their group with an open mind, as I too find spam mail to be annoying. I receive nearly 50 pieces a day from four to five people, who send me same ads day after day. What is really annoying is they send spam to my autoresponders with a fake address, so I get another 50 messages a day telling me that I used an invalid email address in my autoresponder message. All have spidered my website to get email addresses.

A SPAMCOP SPEAKS. In all fairness, I was leaning towards a semi-favorable opinion of SpamCop program until "Jerry" lashed out.

In his message, Jerry told me things which will just make you want to explode in frustration.

He said of innocent who get caught in cross-fire of spam wars: "They should stay home."

He went on to say, "it is far better for thousands of innocents to burn in Hell than one spammer prevail."

A while back, a friend of mine copied a message to me that had been sent to a list of SpamCops and others. I was object of exercise to come. The subject line was, "We have another list owner here that [sic] needs to be educated."

Not much difference in two statements, actually, for "educated" in this context means "business destroyed."

The Source Of This "Complaint"

I had distributed a brief article advising against requiring confirmation of subscription requests. In it, I described results of two attempts at using them. In first trial, 40% of new subscribers did not confirm. In second, a longer trial, 37% failed to confirm.

I can't be certain this article triggered action, for I was never informed. But it was appended to message received as mentioned above. It appears I was added to "get-him" list because I recommend against requesting confirmation.

Radicalism Is Rising In Popularity

Sure, we've had some bad times in this country. When Senator Joe McCarthy got you up to stand, you were guilty before you sat down. Since early 80s, there has been an awesome increase in small, organized, targeted extremist groups which cram their views right down your throat.

Never mind they ignore your rights in doing so. Never mind you may be seriously hurt, even destroyed, by their unilateral actions. Never mind they make judgement of your guilt in a manner you can not contest. You are guilty. Period.

In "True Believer," Eric Hoffer years back clearly pointed out dangers of such groups to democracy as we know it. His concerns have proved to be justified, as have his predictions about such groups significantly reducing individual freedom over time.

SpamCops In Perspective

To put SpamCops into this category is absurd. They are trivial. They hide behind false names, as others have done for centuries behind masks and robes. They violate very rules they claim to espouse. Compared to other forces at work in this country, SpamCops and like minded people offer only a gnat sized threat in a hawk-filled sky.

With one real exception. On a single unjustified and unsupported claim, a webmaster can find his ISP and website shut down without prior notice. And without recourse. For a small business just making it, this can amount to "straw" that brings total collapse.

Small business people are target. And SpamCops have been effective at doing vicious damage to many. The nature of vicarious thrill they get in doing so escapes me.

This is real power. And it appears to be used for its own sake. In all else, SpamCops are utter failures.

Impotent Phonies

They are powerless to prevent real spam. The junk overflows our mailboxes, and we stand helpless before it. So do SpamCops. They can't shut down an ISP or a host owned by spammers. Or those they sell their lists and services to.

So they've taken a giant step and essentially redefined spam as anything received you did not request. A target-rich environment. Requests made, then forgotten, bring messages called spam.