RE: Get Your Mailbox Stuffed with CASH for the Holidays!
On Tue, 2 Dec 1997, Hogland, Thomas E. wrote:
> The word from the US Postal Service is: According to 18 USC sec 1302
> (the Postal Lottery Laws always quoted in these letters) , if the letter
> asks you to send money someplace and says that you'll make a big return
> on it by forwarding the letter, it's illegal. Doesn't matter if there's
> a product for sale or not - if it asks you to send money and promises
> you'll get money back it'll illegal. Also, if it's a "send a postcard
> and you'll get back a thousand postcards" it's legal (no $$$ changing
> hands and a postcard has no real value according to law). 18 USC 1341
> (or 1342 - I can't remember) says that causing this mail to be sent is
> illegal - you don't have to send it yourself... Fines range from $1000
> to $1,000,000 and jail time from 30 days to 30 years.
>
the problem is the postal service laws have no sway on electronic mail and
this kind of message is currently totally legal :(
there are moves to make the junk-fax law cover e-mail as well but the
companies that use spam-email (like Cyberpromo.com) are fighting against it
with lobbyists, trying to pass other laws that would only curb spam-email at
the cost of the ISP and therefore the users who want ot be protected from
it.
G'razel the shifty kitty
Tapestries FurryMUCK SPR Furtoonia
kestrel@aye.net http://www.aye.net/~kestrel
To err is human,
To purr feline.
-- Robert Byrne
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