In the beginning, there was junk mail. In the end, there will probably still
be junk mail. It seems the method of delivery is the only sure thing
to change.
It was only a matter of time before visions of dollar signs drew the same
clever marketing geniuses who brought us junk faxes to the Internet. What
better, faster, cheaper, more effective way could there possibly be to reach
mass markets? And while commercial use of the Internet was once prohibited,
that's no longer the case ... or is it?
As it turns out, there's still a gray area regarding appropriate or acceptable
use of the Internet. Currently, net watchers looking for cues are awaiting
the outcome of a widely publicized lawsuit pitting a small Internet service
provider (ISP) against industry giant America Online. After its subscribers
complained en masse, AOL began bouncing junk mail back to the source, effectively
shutting down the offending mailer's ISP. The advertiser and the ISP cried
foul, complaining that AOL was limiting their constitutional rights to freedom
of expression. AOL countersued, and both cases are making their way through
the justice system.
"Internet law is a new untapped resource for lawyers looking for new
frontiers," says Mike Gardner, assistant director of the UI's Computing
and Communications Services Office. "Few, if any, laws exist that specify
how you may act on the Internet. In lieu of that, those of us who must try
to regulate how people behave turn to existing laws and attempt to apply
those as fit."
Naturally, Gardner said, many people turn to the U.S. Postal Service and
its regulations when seeking direction. "While it's not a bad model
to start with," he said, "it in fact doesn't fit very well. Many
of the 'normal' restrictions, like having to pay for every piece of junk
e-mail you send out, don't exist on the Internet. Yes, you have to pay for
your Internet access, but you can send one copy of e-mail out, with 200
addresses and someone else's machine ends up copying and distributing the
mail. Thus, a tiny resource can affect many, many people."
"The major problem with junk e-mail here," said CCSO's postmaster,
Bruce Gletty, "is that most people have quotas on their incoming mail
spool, and many people tend to leave stuff in their in-box. So, junk mail
puts them over quota and they lose mail."
While that can cause problems for individual users, those who provide the
campus with network services have a more basic bone to pick with junk e-mailers.
Just as junk faxes wasted the recipients' resources, junk e-mail has similar
effects.
"There are still a lot of people out there who think the campus network
[UIUCnet] and Internet are free, thus there couldn't be any restrictions
on their use." That's simply not the case, he said. "The university's
network and Internet access are expensive, university-supplied resources
-- thus all use of those nets fits under the university's general
'Use of University Resources' policy. That is, all university resources
are to be used only for university-approved purposes."
Gardner added that a recently drafted policy on UIUCnet will be released
soon, and should clarify issues regarding acceptable use of the network.
The policy "basically takes existing campus policies and tries to state
them in terms of various network services," he said.
The UI is not alone in its efforts to limit the use of its networks. Most
other universities have similar policies, and, Gardner said, many ISPs have
their own "acceptable use policies," which restrict users from
doing things that "generally cause troubles for other users."
"These restrictions, so long as they are based on traffic, financial
impact on others, malicious activity, etc., are perfectly legal," he
said.
And while many ISPs do have and enforce well-written AUPs, there are plenty
who don't. Therefore, Gardner said, "it is quite possible to live on
an "Intranet, like UIUCnet, and not be permitted to send junk mail,
but be forced to endure receiving it."
Given all this, what -- if anything -- can UI faculty and staff members
do when they check for e-mail and find a message extolling the benefits
of the latest brand of "scientifically tested" wrinkle creams?
"Delete it and ignore it." That's the simple, no-nonsense approach
recommended by Gletty. "If you get several [messages] from the same
place, complain to the postmaster there, and send a copy of the complaint
to postmaster@illinois.edu." And, Gletty added, be sure to include a copy
of the offending note -- complete with all headers -- with your complaints.
From there, Gletty determines the next move.
"It depends on who the sender is, and how much junk has shown up,"
he said. "Frequently, the offender's account has already been terminated
before I see the junk. In bad cases, we contact the postmaster at the offending
site, and if they are unresponsive, their ISP. If they are unresponsive,
we can resort to just refusing stuff from the offender campuswide.
"If it's from a user here on campus, we contact the offender if possible
and convince them not to do it again," he added. "If we cannot
contact them, or if they are repeat offenders, we disable their account."
Gletty said some mail programs also allow people to filter out all messages
originating from specified addresses or sites. For more information about
using a filter, Gletty suggests two options: "People running their
own mail servers need to see their systems administrators; people using
CCSO machines should be able to get help by calling the Resource Center
at 244-1258.
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