Re: Spam Film Idea

POP wrote:

> ...
> >
> > Perhaps distributed with new computer pruchases either from the
> > manufacure
> > or from the retailer.  I know one very small retailer that
> > would be
> > interested.  Sad part he's not big enough to make the project
> > viable.

Very nice idea, though I see POP's point about software getting lost in
the bundle. I've had my computer for two or three years and there are
still plenty of OEM programs I have yet to explore. I hadn't thought
about a partnership with hardware or software vendors, perhaps because I
view some of them as part of the problem. Worth mulling over.


>    Somehow there has to be a way to make it compelling for people
> to WANT to find out about such things, and to follow through at
> least a little bit.

That's where the fun comes in. Have actors read real spam excerpts. Show
how the 419eaters work. The sugar coating that helps the medicine go
down.

It has to be user-friendly. A spam-reporting newbie who looks at full
e-mail headers is going to be frustrated and intimidated. How do I
decipher and decode all this? Well, you don't need to. We would isolate
the parts that mean something or, better yet, simply refer newbies to
SpamCop.


> (snip) That's why I think interviews with everyone from spammers to
> the spammed and scammed is so important.

Occasionally, a newspaper or TV report features someone who's chomped on
spam bait. Would love to know how these people are discovered. Police
reports, I guess.

>
>    And that, IMO, points out that NEWBIES are not only in the
> majority, and need the information the most, but they aren't
> getting it.  Why not? is the question that has to be answered.

POP, you *do* know what you're talking about. Why isn't the information
out there already? Follow the money. Who stands to make a buck out of
antispam efforts? Do hardware and software vendors, ISPs and hosting
companies see that education about spam boosts their bottom lines?
Doubtful. The black hats profit from spam.

--
Steve Holmes
Executive Producer
"The New Ball Game"
"RailFAN"
319-337-9507