Since I have deleted the comment spam that giappino is referring to, here's what happened: Memphilter got hit with about 70 comment spams for an online casino. The tools within MovableType are, frankly, not very good at preventing comment spam or making it easy to delete it.

Interestingly enough, this spam hit just as I upgraded to a newer version of MovableType. Just minutes before I had saved a file with all the entries and comments that had no comment spam, and upon firing it back up--bamm!--70 or so rogue comments. Worthless as shitflakes, indeed.

Since the site never got more that a couple of comment spams here and there, I never really bothered with defending against it. However, in the wake of this attack, I have added a plugin to eradicate comment spam as it is submitted and to allow for easy deletion of comment spam that slips through the cracks. Hopefully, this will wipe out the bulk of said spam.

One thing to keep in mind is that as of December 28th, Memphilter is now a year old (from the first post anyway), with over 500 posts and 2000+ comments. In the first full year, we had 11,000 visitors and 28,000 page views. While that is still very small in terms of web traffic, it is enough to entice comment spammers who desire to increase their Google PageRank by being linked, and who don't care whether or not you follow the link.

all spam sucks

Come on blues. All those spammers are just some of your beloved self-employed trying to make their own rules. What's all the fuss about?

No way, jimoto. These people are self-employed the way a petty larcenist is self-employed. They steal bandwidth and free ride on the page views of others. This case is one instance where I am just a vociferous as giappino: these people are scumbags pure and simple. Just because blues is laissez faire and appreciates the enterprising spirit doesn't mean he can't villify these jacknuts.

By the way, the Comment Spam Manifesto.

My tongue was firmly planted in my cheek on that last comment. It should without saying that I hate the 225 e-mails that clog my inbox everyday just as much as the next person and sincerely hope that all hope spammers rot in cyberspace hell. But if you want me to make an issue of it, I'll take the bait.

Spam is not illegal. It's constitutionally protected free speech that is made within a public forum. While there are certainly concerns regarding the amount of bandwidth and memory spam wastes and that we ultimately have to pay for, how can the government stop the practice of spam without raising some serious constitutional issues? Spam is considered commercial speech and, as such, is deemed by the Supreme Court to be entitled to a degree of First Amendment Protection. This form of commercial speech should be free from unwarranted governmental regulation, since commercial expression not only serves the economic interest of the speaker, but also, in theory anyway, assists consumers and furthers the societal interest in the fullest possible dissemination of information. What better way to disseminate information quickly and cheaply than through the internet?

Despite the broad protection afforded by the First Amendment, the government clearly should regulate the content of commercial speech to prevent the dissemination of information that is false, deceptive, or misleading, or that proposes an illegal transaction. Obviously, a large portion of spam fits within this category. However, some spam does not. So how can the government take draconian laws to regulate all spam in an attempt to prevent false, deceptive, or misleading commercial speech while depiving the "honest" spammer of an available forum? The Supreme Court has consistently invalidated restrictions designed to deprive consumers of accurate information about products and services legally offered for sale. Therefore, I seriously doubt that any regulation of spam will be so well tailored by the legislature that it will pass constitutional muster. Look at what courts have done with the recent telemarketing regulations as an example of what I'm talking about.

As to the laissez faire economic policy of blues, I think that the spam issue indirectly points out some serious flaws in his opinion that the free market allows for people to either work for the wages they want or start their own business. How can he expect a solo entrepreneur to quit his or her current job, take care of a family, and compete on the open market with international corporations that can undercut the individual so there is absolutely no competition. Want to go into business selling bicycles? Wal-Mart sells them for less than what you can buy them from a supplier. How about a hardware store? Home Depot has got that market cornered. I could go on with numerous examples. It's hard to deny that in today's market, outside of the professional sphere, the competition makes it extremely difficult for an individual to start up a profitable business selling goods and services. Add to this obstacle the cost of health care, taxes, and the difficulty getting decent a small business loan, most individual workers have no choice but to stick with a job where he or she works for less wages than their parents earned and are saddled with a higher cost of living.

So what better way than the internet for an individual to start up a business? This is one of the ways that the internet is a great societal equalizer. An individual can start a business with little to no overhead and begin to solicit customers by purchasing some e-mail addresses and getting himself noticed on a search engine. Compared to brick-and-mortar businesses, the internet is an incredibly easy and inexpensive way to earn money. If the government starts to crack down on things like spam, there is the very real possibility that there will be a significant derease in the flow of information that would be detrimental to the opportunities afforded to individuals by the internet. Besides, there are other solutions to the annoyance of spam that individual users and hosts can take advantage of without the government getting involved. With the internet you get all of society, including those pesky scumbags. If you try to limit their actions, what else is going to be limited?

So there.

I knew it was tongue in cheek, of course. It seems the laws against illegal faxing would apply in a roundabout way to the spam issue. I think the greater problem with the spam issue is jurisdiction. How can you stop these if they originate from the thrid world or a former soviet republic? If you can't, these operations will move to places like that where enforcement is nil. The other part of the equation is that there are some people who actually respond to spam, buying V1@gRa, P@rIs H1Lton Videos, and the like. If that were to stop, spam would. But it won't.

The way to get rid of spammers is to kill them. That's also a business plan I'm working out to employ myself and make my own rules as well. I will be a spammer bounty hunter/killer. I will hunt them down and kill them with my bare hands: on one hand across the knuckles wearing "S-P-A-M" and on the other "S-L-A-Y-E-R" Yes, I have 6 fingers on my right hand. I think I could establish a niche market in this economy. Who wants to be my first customer, and who wants to be my first prey? Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why should anyone hire you? Since I bought all those P@rIs H1Lton Videos, I have the strength to kill those spammers with one hand tied behind my back. Thus, I can do the job at half the cost.

Try as I may I completely fail to follow your logic.
So, you have purchased P@ris H1lton videos and this will give u strength to kill spammers? I don't get it!!

paris hilton... nekid... one hand stronger than the other... ah, nevermind.

Geez! Even I got that one.
Anyhow, I would like to start my own business. More than anything in the world I have longed dreamed of - big shocker - owning and running my own bar. Alas, no cash. Anyone feel like investing? You can have free beer and alot of say on what goes on the jukebox!
So, giappino, don't kill spammers for a living! (although they may deserve it) Let's find some investors and open a bar instead. YEAH!

ur wit is lacking in a big way, moto-mouth

And I thought for sure this thread was going nowhere.

Sorry blues. Next time I'll condense my comments to the length of a bumper sticker. That way, maybe you'll be able to follow along.

i'm rubber, ur glue...whatever u say bounces off me and sticks to u...ur snide remarks about my comment (which u mis-represented) on another post have started to annoy me, and ur legal argument for the right to spam has some serious holes...any e-mail account should have an option to not be bothered by un-solicited spam, and those who right software to circumvent such an option should be subject to fines...free-speech doesnt protect explicit porn fliers sent via snail mail, so why should people be subject to smutty pics when they open their e-mail?? free-speech doesnt allow annoying phone calls when the victim requests that the caller not harass them, so how does it protect someone who disregards a request from an e-mail account to not be bothered?? and i have yet to read any testimonials from self-made businessmen who attributed their success to hits from mass e-mails....

***those who write software...

You're right, blues. Let's be fair. This was your comment: a job is not an entitlement. the free market determines wages (when it is allowed to), and workers are free to quit at any time. if an american cannot find a suitable job in the current market, he is free to employ himself and make his own rules. what is all the fuss about?

Obviously I am guilty of gross misrepresentation and apologize for my snide remarks. You're right and I'm wrong. There. I admit you've changed my mind. And guess what? Admitting I'm wrong and changing my mind doesn't even hurt. It's actually quite liberating.

Ah, ok now I get it. I missed the joke because I find P@ris Hilton about as sexy as a clothesline blowing in the wind.
As for the bar I'm all for it, already been working on it, in fact we need to talk more about it later. After opening a bar we could have a "Spammers get in free night" and then when they're in there we can kill them, by stuffing P@ris H1lton videos, V1agra, Debt reduction fliers, and penis enlargement pills up their asses until it comes out of their mouths and then their heads explode. Then I will have a beer and laugh!

one way to rid ur e-mail box of unwanted spam is to search ur pc for data miners, which can be as harmless as a cookie or extremely vicious, with some carrying keystroke-capture software that can compromise PINs, credit card #s and other sensitive information. spybot S&D and ad-aware are free, and although they wont catch everything, i noticed a sharp decline in spam when i installed them last spring...if u decide to install either program, u will learn a lot about the lawless tactics of these annoying ass-heads that flood ur e-mail box, many of which are overseas

location, location, location....oh and big-screen HDTVs and hot chicks serving burgers and ribs and brews....a bar can be a very profitable business, or it can be a miserable failure....my 5+ years of experience on beale st has led me to believe that there is a very simple formula for success in the food-service industry; the biggest problem i witnessed was the people who counted the money at the end of the nite...

Now you too can relive spam's glorious past.