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The Daily Camera
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http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/opinion_columnists/article/0,1713,BDC_2490_2615380,00.html
Talbott: 'Spam king' didn't opt for this call
January 30, 2004
Having been steadily bombarded with e-mail come-ons for "Vi@gra," breast
enlargements and the secret to "ALL NIGHT sex," an average recipient would no
doubt like to tell a spam king to back off.
So when Scott Richter's phone number landed on my desk, I called. And, lo, he
answered. I asked him if he'd mind my printing his number in the newspaper.
His colorful response suggested that he wouldn't like it. On the other hand,
millions of us don't particularly like being spammed. To print or not to print
his number. That is the conundrum.
Richter is alleged to be the third-largest spammer in the world, sending as many
as 250 million e-mail messages each day. Richter runs OptInRealBig, an
online-marketing company whose headquarters are in Westminster.
Last fall, Richter, his company and others were sued by the state of New York -
and separately by Microsoft - for allegedly conspiring to send misleading and
fraudulent e-mail solicitations.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer charges that Richter and his cronies
were part of an elaborate system that disseminated 40,000 deceptions in 8,000
pieces of e-mail that were caught in spam traps. Spitzer is seeking $500 per
lie, or $20 million.
"We will drive them into bankruptcy," Spitzer said.
Richter was ready to wrangle about this when he answered the phone Thursday.
First of all, Richter says he is not a spammer. He insists that those who
receive e-mail from his company have "opted in," meaning they have agreed to get
e-mail solicitations. Those who ask to be removed from his lists are promptly
removed, he says, adding that 1,000 to 2,000 "unsubscribe" requests come in each
day.
There would probably be a lot more "unsubscribe" requests if people believed
their requests would actually be honored, rather than used as a pretext to send
even more e-mail. (Experts say "unsubscribe" links are used to confirm that a
real person exists at a certain address, thereby guaranteeing that the person
who hopes to "opt out" will instead get more digital carpet-bombing.)
OK, so what if spam recipients called Richter to request - politely, of course -
that he remove their addresses from any list Richter maintains?
Richter says some similar information has been publicized before. His home
address, phone number, Social Security number and bank-account number have all
appeared on the Web, he says. Much of that data is still available. Some people
have exploited that information unfairly and illegally, doing everything from
fraudulently subscribing Richter to magazines to making threats on his life.
Threats and fraud are indefensible, of course. But what if "online marketing"
recipients simply called to ask Richter, politely and respectfully, to leave
them alone?
"If you want to be a jack-off and write your bull- stories, go ahead," he said.
"We're not doing anything illegal." Noting his role in OptInRealBig, a Limited
Liability Corporation, Richter added, "I'm the president of a f-ing LLC here.
Why are you niggling me personally?"
Well, partly because the evidence suggests that's what you do to others.
Richter didn't buy that. "When (Microsoft) Windows crashes, do you call Bill
Gates?" No, but the Gates empire has customer-service reps who appear to make
good-faith efforts to address consumer complaints. And if Gates' number were
available, I just might call.
Then, Richter appealed to my self interest. What if he were to urge tens of
thousands of people to call me or e-mail me to wish me a happy birthday? He
could easily do that. My phone number and e-mail address appear at the bottom of
this column and in dozens of places on the Web. His number is, well, not so
prominent.
Richter verified that the line I called Thursday was a business number, not a
home line. (I have his home number and address but am not printing them.) The
OptInRealBig Web site lists the operation's number as (303) 464-8164 but doesn't
mention (303) 550-9828, which is the number I called and which Richter answered.
Talking with Scott Richter is like debating a snarling bulldog. It's not for the
timid. But for those who want to tell an "online marketer" to take them off his
lists, ringing him up is a defensible option.
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So the phone number to reach Scott Richter is 303-550 9828.
Scott Richter's phone number: (303) 550 9828
Scott Richter, phoneno: 303 550 9828
OptinRealBig.com phone number: 303-550-9828
The phone number for Scott Richter is (303)-550-9828
-TPP - X-Archive: forever, spammer scum
--
Q: "What do the FBI and convicted criminals have in common?"
A: "Both don't give a damn about the laws."
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Uzytkownik "Tero Paananen" <tpp+usenetnn@iki.fi> napisal w wiadomosci
news:eCWTb.20756$fZ6.10132@lakeread06...
So the phone number to reach Scott Richter is 303-550 9828.
emilio23@op.pl
Scott Richter's phone number: (303) 550 9828
Scott Richter, phoneno: 303 550 9828
OptinRealBig.com phone number: 303-550-9828
The phone number for Scott Richter is (303)-550-9828
-TPP - X-Archive: forever, spammer scum
--
Q: "What do the FBI and convicted criminals have in common?"
A: "Both don't give a damn about the laws."
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In article <J6UTb.628$%22.42559@news.uswest.net>,
=> Vox Populi <vox@popu.li> wrote:
The Daily Camera
To print this page, select File then Print from your browser
URL:
http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/opinion_columnists/article/0,1713,BDC_2490_2615380,00.html
Talbott: 'Spam king' didn't opt for this call
January 30, 2004
[snippety-doo-dah]
"If you want to be a jack-off and write your bull- stories, go ahead," he said.
"We're not doing anything illegal." Noting his role in OptInRealBig, a Limited
Liability Corporation, Richter added, "I'm the president of a f-ing LLC here.
Why are you niggling me personally?"
Well, partly because the evidence suggests that's what you do to others.
Richter didn't buy that. "When (Microsoft) Windows crashes, do you call Bill
Gates?" [...]
When Gates' product works exactly as advertised, I don't
have any motivation to call him. When Richter's "service"
is working at peak efficiency, strangely enough, that's
when he's causing the rest of the world grief.
How do you quit getting "serviced", except by servicing him back?
Sounds fair to me. (And Bubba is waiting...)
--
Errol [tinlc, Dept. 2342: Charcoal Manufacturing]
Spammers lie more times per second than any other endeavor on earth.
I am not SPEWS.
Direct email replies work: don't alter the Subject line or the address.
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