Webmasters!Please do the internet a favour and copy this page to your own site (or make a similar one yourself).Only if we all work together can we get rid of the internet business filth. |
Tired of an email inbox filled with trash?
Tired of advertisement windows popping up all over the web?
Do you want to do something about it?
There's one simple thing you can do:
Don't buy!
And of course, tell all your friends to do the same.
It's really very simple. All the unethical internet commerce exists because there's money in it.
There are lots of software solutions available to reduce the problems, but they are never really effective, and eventually somebody will find a way around the blocking.
The only real way to stop the internet harassment is to make it unprofitable.
But, you may say, nobody actually buys from spam!
Sadly, if that was true spam wouldn't exist. All those loud, obnoxious ads are there because they work. They've worked until now, that is. Together you and I and our friends and our friends' friends can put a stop to it. All you have to do is:
- Just delete any unsolicited advertisements you may receive
- Just close any advertisements windows that may appear while you surf the web. (And btw, if that happens while you're at one of my site, it's because your computer has been infcted with some spyware. Go get Spybot Search & Destroy or AdAware and run a check on your computer.)
- Tell everybody to do the same.
Ethical internet advertisements
One important point though: Don't forget that advertisements are what keep sites like this one alive. To me there's a huge difference between non-obstrusive, serious advertisements placed on a serious web page (or maillist) and blatant over-the-top marketing. (Of course if you disagree, you should feel free to keep from clicking on any commercial internet links ;-)To me a web site is like a newspaper or a magazine. Advertisements is what keeps it alive, unethical advertising is what kills it. If you find any of the advertisements at this site offending, please contact me with details about which ad, where you saw it and why you found it offesive.
Reporting spam
The US Federal Trade Comission is trying to monitor all spam and is very happy to receive reports and complaints about any spam you receive. For more information, take a look at The UXN Spam Combat Primer.Just one word of caution though: Even though the email header often can find out which computer the spam actually comes from, this isn't necessarily the end of the search. Most spam today is sent by virus programs infecting the computers of perfectly innocent people.
| Site last updated . This particular page was created 26/03/2004 and last updated 23/04/2005 Site updates |