Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

Debra Bowen is a state Senator in Cali. She has sponsored various anti spam pieces of legislation. Most recently she has come out strong against Microsoft for OPPOSING anti spam legislation in general. Now I am not familiar with the particulars of her legislation but I do agree that legislation is needed in this case. I wish it were not, in general I think fewer laws are better, but in cases where laws become necessary (safety, financial harm, intimidation, etc) they should be in place and should be enforced.

In the case of spam its causing enormous financial harm. The time and bandwidth costs are astronomical, yet spammers would have you believe its harmless. So hence, we need laws to protect consumers.

I have stated several times in the past that I find it very peculiar that both Microsoft and AOL have new big "anti spam" campaigns. Now that they can SELL that "feature" of course. In the past these companies WERE SPAMMERS and as the Senator points out Microsoft opposes any real anti-spam legislation.

She says, and I agree, letting the industry, or Microsoft, police spam is like putting telemarketers in charge of the "no-call" list.

Microsoft is full of crap on this one. They either need to help be a part of the spam solution or shut the hell up and stop claiming to be such. And this is not some Microsoft bias talking, its plain old earned consternation.

For more see the linked news.com article.   Calling out Microsoft on spam: news.com