quote:

---

WASHINGTON (AP) -- What would it take to get someone to turn in one of those spammers who send millions of unwanted e-mails? At least $100,000, the Federal Trade Commission figures.

Six-figure incentives are the only way to persuade people to disclose the identity of co-workers, friends and others they know are responsible for flooding online mailboxes with unsolicited pitches for prescription drugs, weight loss plans and other products, according to an agency report Thursday.

The commission said a government-funded reward system could work if the payoff was between $100,000 and $250,000 -- higher than rewards in most high-profile criminal and terrorism cases. For example, the FBI pays $50,000 for tips leading to the arrests of most of its top 10 fugitives.

---

 

---

Posted by Eduardo_Sauron (Member # 5827) on :
 
So...any spammers over here?
I'm just asking because...you know...I'm curious. The money? Bah...didn't even notice it.
 

---

Posted by Jess N (Member # 6744) on :
 
Makes me wish I knew someone that did that...I could use the money for school.
 

---

Posted by miles_per_hour (Member # 6451) on :
 
It's kinda depressing that I don't even have the opportunity to be a sell-out. I'm just a sell-out wannabe. ;(
 

---

Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
 
I wish I knew a spammer

or two

or several.
 

---

Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
 
Now, if Arthur Miller were writing Death of a Salesman today, Willy Loman wouldn't be killing himself so that his family could get the insurance check. Instead, he'd be setting himself up as a spammer so that his family could turn him in and claim the reward money...

[ September 20, 2004, 02:40 PM: Message edited by: plaid ]
 

---

Posted by Eduardo_Sauron (Member # 5827) on :
 
Right on, plaid!


 

---

Posted by the master (Member # 6788) on :
 
nice to know that being a serial killer will be easier to get away with than trying to sell you a pill to make your (pick a part) bigger.

is there a reward for turning in people who download mp3's illegaly? if the recording industry sponsered one, that would make more sense than this.

as annoying as deleting 80 crap messages a day, and constantly restructuring my filters is, i would rather see this kind of money spent on, oh, just about anything. like, maybe education? or road work? or something.

(was that the response you were hoping for?)

[ September 20, 2004, 02:59 PM: Message edited by: the master ]
 

---

Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
 
If that last line was directed at me, then my answer is, I wasn't hoping for any particular response. Though, I obviously disagree with you in this particular instance, I have to ask, do you really dislike rewards for turning people in in general because the money is ill spent, or because it turns people into stooges for the state with all that implies?
 

---

Posted by the master (Member # 6788) on :
 
i dislike that the reward system places more value on spammers than on murderers.
 

---

Posted by Dread Pirate_Smith (Member # 4780) on :
 
What if it was a Spamming Murderer? You know, sent out emails and if you didn't send it to 10 people in the next 10 minutes, he'd come and kill you?
 

---

Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
 
Gotcha. I can understand that.
 

---

Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
 
And other than having a good heart, what would prevent a hacker from hijacking your machine, filling it with all the malware development code and tests as well as the malware itself, setting your computer to spam, then turning you in for the reward?

The reason I ask is that there is a college student in jail right now for eco"terrorism" -- arson at a SouthernCalifornia SUV dealership -- solely on the basis of emails claiming responsibility tracked to his computer.
My problem is: what CalTech student is so oblivious as to how computers/networks work that s/he would send emails from her/his own computer without even bothering to cover the trail by spoofing?
 

---