Comments on: FTC wants beefed-up powers against Net scammers

Government officials say existing law hinders international crackdowns and the ability to slap fines on wrongdoers.

[extinctone]

If the FTC had any intenstinal fortitude...

If I had a say in the matter I would try this...

Require all US based ISPs with international reach to sync routers to pull from IP lists hourly from a .gov site.

Spam us in bulk, the entire US router system blocks your entire country for an hour. Repeat offenses increase the time-to-block to 4 hours, even entire days. Perhaps Canada, the UK and others could join us and it would be even more effective.

Punishing the non-offender as well? Oh well, casualty of war. It would serve to light a fire under the ...'s of government officials perhaps.

But this would take a spine, something those calling the shots on these matters of net abuse don't seem to have.

[Seaspray0]

Not a good idea

Considering that alot of the spam originates in the United States, you would effectively block yourself according to the plan you propose.

Back in the wild west of the United States, bounties were placed on those who broke the law. If the bounty reached a certain point, the criminal was wanted "dead or alive". I'd like to see bounties placed on spammers and phishers. So what if they aren't inside the country. There are some that would reach the "dead or alive" status rather quickly and that's fine by me. If you're going to stop spam and phishing, give those who do it something to think about to stop... like keeping their life. You can bet that it crosses the minds of criminals in Texas where we DO enforce the death penalty.

[extinctone]

Additional thoughts...

Here in the US and other countries we need to "get real" on cracking down on spammers, phishers, etc. Those with a tech clue know it doesn't take much to track these guys. Why does it take so long to bring cases against them? Is that more or less what the FTC is trying to remedy perhaps.

Besides that, a rather 'dark humour' type of thought re: China if we were to block IP address segments that originate spam. They would probably start executing spammers. Not so funny when you consider it would probably turn out to be reality. They execute people now expressing the free speech we enjoy in forums such as this CNet TalkBack.

[Jackson Cracker]

slap on handcuffs along with the fines

The bigger problem is that the Bush administration refuses to
criminally prosecute these people even when they're reported
and caught.

[aabcdefghij987654321]

Brain Dead

Another stupid comment from the looney left as shown by it's obligatory blaming of the Bush administration for every ill in the world.

[wbenton]

Much ado about the wrong method

>>>The federal regulators' push for authority on the international front is nothing new. In 2003, the FTC lobbied Congress for powers that would, among other things, allow them to serve secret requests for subscriber information on Internet service providers, peruse FBI criminal databases, and swap sensitive information with foreign law enforcement agencies.<<<

(* GRIN *)

All that has to be done is to block access to/from ISP's who harbor spammers.

It takes the problem to the root where it should be taken.

SPAM CANNOT get out onto the internet except through an ISP.

That said... hold the ISP responsible for thier subscribers... free or paid.

If they cannot secure their outgoing spoofed SPAM... and believe you me... ISP's know for sure who is spamming with spoofed headers and who is not.

If aol.com has an E-mail with the from specified as xyz.com, abc.com or any OTHER thing but aol.com... it's definately SPOOFED!

Which ever ISP is allowing such spoofing to occur should be held responsible. IF they aren't... then we're trying to close the barn door after the horses have been let out... (i.e. too late).

Spam needs to be nipped in the butt at it's source... and that's the initial sending ISP which the spammer resides.

Give them a warning first... if they don't comply and stop such spanning... block that ISP's IP entire block range such that nothing in or out of the US will be able to reach them! Their SPAM as well as their ligitimate E-mail and casual browsers will ALL be cut off. If they don't like it... then they need to take care of their own problem.

Many users might be pissed, many E-mails might be lost or underliverable... but hey... that's what an irresponsible ISP pays so one should look for a responsible ISP who does block spoofed spam.

That would be phase I. In phase II, the non-spoofed SPAM should be stompped on as well in a similar manner.

Irresponsible ISP's should also have their domain names and IP addresses frozen/taken-away. If/once they comply... then unfreeze/return their IP address range and domain names back to them.

Simple... take the problem to the root of the cause. Irresponsible ISP's. If they cannot be responsible... they shouldn't have a seat on the internet!!!

Other fancy legislation is unnecessary and probably a waste of everybody's time and tax payer dollars!

FWIW