The WELL: inkwell.vue.236: Brian McWilliams, "Spam Kings"

#103: Brian McWilliams (bmcwilliams) Sun 13 Feb 05 17:34

Sun, 13 Feb 2005 17:34:00 PST

Betsy, yes, I'm aware that .biz land is considered less than prime real estate by some people. But the dot-com was taken (Scott Richter later got the dot-net), and I figured dot-biz would be apropos given the subject matter. ;-) [Read entire topic]

#102: Betsy Schwartz (betsys) Sun 13 Feb 05 08:18

Sun, 13 Feb 2005 08:18:00 PST

Wow, the new gig sounds like it could be a bit dangerous. Safe trails!

I'm interested btw in your choosing a ".biz" domain for your new site. I've heard much discussion on sysadmin resource lists about whether .biz and .info should be just completely filtered out because they are such spammer havens. I notice you're not using that domain for email... [Read entire topic]

#101: Dan Mitchell (mitchell) Fri 11 Feb 05 17:25

Fri, 11 Feb 2005 17:25:00 PST

Yes, thanks Brian. Great work. I love good underbelly journalism, and you seem to be taking to it quite nicely. I'll look forward to that next book.

FYI -- If you don't know, there's a whole spam conference here on the Well that may interest you. Several people in there, some of them sysdmins such as <wolfy> are quite knowledgable on the technical aspects of the problem. [Read entire topic]

#100: one big petri dish (jnfr) Fri 11 Feb 05 17:07

Fri, 11 Feb 2005 17:07:00 PST

Can't wait! [Read entire topic]

#99: Brian McWilliams (bmcwilliams) Fri 11 Feb 05 16:22

Fri, 11 Feb 2005 16:22:00 PST

David, I'm a Timex type of guy, but thanks anyway. :)

It was *my* pleasure to be Inkwell's guest. Thanks everyone for your great questions and comments.

In case anyone wants to keep jabbering about spam and/or "Spam Kings," I promise to check in here regularly. Or feel free to visit my spam blog, http://www.spamkings.biz.

Regarding that new project in the works, it's a book with the inside story of another Net-noir subculture: the organized criminal gangs who run sites like Shadowcrew.com and CarderPlanet.net. With the help of a key insider, I'll be providing a behind-the-scenes view of some major Internet phishing scams, break-ins, and extortion plots -- as well as law-enforcement efforts to shut them down. [Read entire topic]

#98: David Adam Edelstein (davadam) Fri 11 Feb 05 15:32

Fri, 11 Feb 2005 15:32:00 PST

Thanks, Brian, for your insight into this world, and thanks to everyone who joined in the discussion.

Anyone want my fake rolex? [Read entire topic]

#97: one big petri dish (jnfr) Fri 11 Feb 05 14:41

Fri, 11 Feb 2005 14:41:00 PST

Wonderful topic. Thanks for talking with us, Brian. [Read entire topic]

#96: Cynthia Dyer-Bennet (cdb) Fri 11 Feb 05 14:40

Fri, 11 Feb 2005 14:40:00 PST

The whole effort to stop spammers seems like an impossible game of Whack-a- Mole. Bop one on the head and another one pops up over ---> there. As you say, Brian, as long as there's money to be made, there's no real way to put a halt to it without putting other limitations on the 'Net that most of us would not tolerate.

This has been a fascinating discussion. It's hard to believe that two weeks have flown by already. I want to thank you, Brian, for joining us here in Inkwell, and for writing the book in the first place. And thanks to you, David, for so ably leading the conversation.

This thread will remain here indefinitely, and if you want to continue talking, please feel free to do so. Even though our virtual spotlight has turned to new guests, we're more than happy to have multiple conversations going on here.

Also, I understand you have something new in the works, Brian, so maybe you might need to get back to that. However, I hope you have time to tell us a bit about it before you sign off. [Read entire topic]

#95: Brian McWilliams (bmcwilliams) Fri 11 Feb 05 12:29

Fri, 11 Feb 2005 12:29:00 PST

Well, lawsuits are an important arrow in the quiver. But as long as spam is profitable, new spammers will take the place of guys who get sued out of business.

As for this specific lawsuit, I don't expect it will have a perceptible impact on the amount of Viagra spam we receive.

Seems that Pfizer's main concern in the lawsuit is cutting off unathorized sales of *generic* Viagra. (They also sued 30 sites last August for selling generic Viagra.) I wonder if they'd be as aggressive about suing spammers of brand-name Viagra. [Read entire topic]

#94: Public persona (jmcarlin) Fri 11 Feb 05 11:29

Fri, 11 Feb 2005 11:29:00 PST

Brian,

What do you feel about stories like this?

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/news/40524.html Microsoft, Pfizer File Lawsuits over Viagra Spam

Do you think such lawsuits going to have any meaningful impact on spam? [Read entire topic]