On Wed, 24 May 1995, Netnews Server wrote:
>
>
>[You pathetic morons.  Buy my stuff.  Send me money.  Now.]
>
>
 
I have been active on the net since I was a graduate student in the
early 80s.  One of the things that I have noticed in the past year
of so, since the hype about the "information highway" started, is
that unscrupulous and inconsiderate companies are increasingly
insistent on spamming multiple lists with unsolicited and
unwelcome advertisements.  As with the case of this advertisement,
the intrusions has nothing to do with the subject of the list.
 
While this irritates me, I am equally opposed to the explicit
censorship of a moderated group (at least for a discussion group).
It is thus the "right" of these people to post to unmoderated
groups of their choice, however inappropriate.
 
It is also, however, our right to point out to these people
and their carriers that these posts are inappropriate, and that
they may well do as much commercial harm as good.
 
Certainly, I will never buy a product from Netnews or
Your Lifetime Health Planner, if I can avoid it.  Moreover,
I can't help but wonder if the American.edu  knows that
its services are being used for commercial spamming.
 
I suggest that the readers of this list let Netnews, AMERICAN.EDU,
 and Your Lifetime Health Planner know how you feel, but dropping them one
or a few notes to that effect.  You might send a note to
[log in to unmask], and to the [log in to unmask]
 
 
billo