FTC Spam Forum Press Coverage

There will surely be a number of stories in the media following the FTC Spam Forum. The first story I saw was by David Ho of the Associated Press. Here are two excerpts.

“New laws that are unenforceable for myriad reasons or that are overtaken by the advances of technology have the potential to do more harm than good,” FTC commissioner Orson Swindle said. “No single law, no single new technology, no new initiative, no new meetings are going to solve this problem alone.”

John Patrick, chairman of the industry-supported Global Internet Project, said any U.S. law would do little to stop spam from other countries and the only solution is blocking it with new technology.

FTC Spam Forum

Next Friday, May 2, I’ll be in Washington participating in a Federal Trade Commission public forum to explore the issues regarding the proliferation of and potential solutions to unsolicited commercial email (“UCE” or “spam”). The forum will also look at how the unique qualities of spam contribute to and hinder both fraud and its prosecution. The panel I hope to contribute on is entitled “Federal and State Legislation“. This is an unlikely place for me to participate but I will be the voice arguing that legislation is *not* the right answer. (read more)

Tangled Up in Spam

The New York Times published a comprehensive story about Spam by James Gleick. It is a really good read. February 9, 2003 – Magazine section. See patrickWeb public policy archive for related stories.

Are We Safe Yet?

It is not my area of expertise but I must admit that I think about nuclear and biological terrorism more than I used to. The current issue of IEEE Spectrum suggests that we may no longer feel like we’re living on the knife edge of 9/11 — but perhaps we should. In terms of radiological, nuclear, and biological attacks, we’re still as vulnerable as ever according to an IEEE interview with Richard L. Garwin. A longtime advisor to the U.S. government on matters of national security, Garwin is also a respected public critic of technology and technology policy, including, most recently, efforts to contain biological and nuclear terrorism. A fellow IEEE Senior Member, Garwin is the Philip D. Reed Senior Fellow for Science and Technology at the Council on Foreign Relations (New York City) and an IBM Fellow Emeritus at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY. If you don’t mind getting alarmed, read the interview.

Global Internet Project – Honolulu

This has been a very busy week for public policy groups in Honolulu. The Global Internet Project Spam Workshop was a follow on to the June 18 meeting on the same subject. The GIP is an international group of senior executives committed to fostering continued growth of the Internet. It dates back to 1995 when Jim Clark of Netscape, John Gerdelman of MCI, Michio Naruto of Fujitsu, Paul Gudonis of Genuity, myself, and several others began a focus on critical issues affecting the future of the Internet. In those early days the major concern was government regulation of encryption. Today the major focus is spam. GIP board members participating on the roundtable included Vinton Cerf, Senior Vice President of Architecture and Technology at WorldCom, Inc., Raimund Trierscheid – Executive Director, Technology Strategy of T-Mobil Deutsche Telekom AG, Dr. Murano of Fujitsu, and myself. Invited guest participants included Karl Jacob, CEO of Cloudmark, Orson Swindle, Commissioner at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and David Lassner, CIO of the University of Hawaii. I was the moderator for the panel. After four enlightening speeches byVint Cerf and the three guests, there was a lively discussion on the key issues. The consensus of the panel was that, while there is no single solution to overcoming spam, there are reasons to be optimistic about progress because of increased focus by Internet service providers, technology start-ups, employers and government. There was also a strong consensus that additional regulation or legislation is not needed. All three Hawaiian TV stations were there along with other reporters. The press release summarizes the key points of view. (read more)

Global Internet Project – Spam Roundtable

The Global Internet Project), an international group of senior executives committed to fostering continued growth of the Internet, held a Roundtable on Internet spam at the Sheraton Waikiki today. I’ll have a more complete story on this in next day or so but in the meantime, here is the press release. (read more)

He Loves Spam? I Sure Don’t!

CNET December 18, 2002 ran a story this past May by Barry Dennis called “Why I love spam” Barry first relates his experience of some years ago when he would get a lot of postal “junk mail” that was unsolicited and he says that he loved it. He says he really appreciated the offers because he learned things and bought things as a result. He further says that the junk mailers “were (and still are) reaching out to satisfy my needs as their research indicated”. There was a time when I would have agreed with Barry with regard to “junk mail”, but then he goes off the deep end to say that he loves spam email! He says that the spam he receives tells him about things he is interested in, gives him referrals, and provides ideas and food for thought. His bottom line is that spam is simply the “junk mail” of a few years ago. I completely disagree. (read more)

Vanquish Spam

I continue to get a lot of feedback on the subject of spam. Just in case you didn’t see it, Esther Dyson had an interesting column in the New York Times on the subject. She described a new company called Vanquish that is offering a new anti-spam service that sounds very interesting. I think we have reached the point with spam where a lot of companies are seeing it – anti-spam that is — as a business opportunity. We have a long way to go but I believe there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Digital IDs: a tool to reduce Spam

I have been writing and speaking about The Future of the Internet for more than eight years — as many of you have. One of the joys of this is the feedback received from all over the world — emails I have much appreciated and from which I have learned a great deal. Never in all of these years have I received so much feedback on something I have written than my recent weblog posting about Spam. (read more)

Do We Need the Interstate Highway System in America?

Reflection – written July 1, 2002

I had long wanted to take a trip from my weekend retreat in Pennsylvania down to southern New Jersey to visit my mother and then back to my home in Connecticut — all without using the Interstate Highway System. An extensive study was done entitled“40 Years of the US Interstate Highway System: An Analysis”, but my study was to be a motorcycle ride to see for myself. I am not really a “road geek”, I just wanted to see for myself what it would be like and how long it would take.

It’s a forecasted to be a hot day with highs in the 90′s and the possibility of thunderstorms. I departed at 10 am from Greentown, Pennsylvania and headed south on route 507 with the Garmin StreetPilot pointing to Pennsville, New Jersey. It would be 126 miles the way the crow flies. The Street Pilot shows color maps and, although it doesn’t tell you when and where to turn, it would always be pointing precisely at Pennsville. I purposely did not do much planning — I would just use a form of ”dead reckoning”, pick interesting “back roads” and use the GPS to confirm that I was heading in the right general direction. My adventure had begun.

The early phases of the trip were very enjoyable. I picked up route in New Foundland, Pennsylvania and continued south. It was absolutely beautiful weaving through the hills, mountains and along the creeks and rivers of northeastern Pennsylvania. It was fun to see the various farms, businesses, homes, people to wave to, and other scenes that I don’t normally notice when driving a car.

Avoiding the interstate highway system was no problem — until I got to East Stroudsburg. This was the point at which it was time to cross over from Pennsylvania into New Jersey. I knew there was a bridge there, but didn’t recall that it was connected to Interstate 80 on both sides. So for a short few miles, I was on the interstate system.

I took the first exit I could after arriving in New Jersey and shortly thereafter found myself crossing back over a bridge I didn’t know about into Pennsylvania! At this point, I decided to continue down Route 611 which meanders along the Delaware River which separates Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I’m glad I did — it was a beautiful ride. I arrived in Easton, Pennsylvania, crossed back over a bridge into New Jersey and used dead reckoning to find my way through Phillipsburg, back into the countryside of North Jersey and headed down route 519. I stopped at a Citgo gas station and food mart for some gas and a sandwich.

I am now 70 miles from my destination, the way the crow flies — probably closer to 100 miles the way the roads go.

I continued along the Delaware River — but now on the New Jersey side. There are many historical sites along this route. I passed by Washington Crossing State Park and it conjured up an image of the famous picture of the General in the boat with his aides rowing him across the river. Beautiful historical homes were in abundance and later the gold dome of the capitol of New Jersey in Trenton came in view. I had a patriotic feeling for this whole phase of the trip.

Then it was into real South Jersey. No more big buildings. No more mountains or hills visible in any direction. Corn fields, barns, farms, farmhouses, and flat roads make up much of this part of the world. One of the most impressive historical towns in New Jersey is Haddonfield. Cruising down Main Street was a treat — stunning 200+ year-old homes with American flags and flowers everywhere. It was a real treat. I arrived at Mom’s place around 4 PM — odometer reading was 187 miles. That meant that there was about a sixty mile and three hour penalty for my adventure but it was well worth it. The return trip was a different story.

The forecast was hazy, hot, and humid. All three turned out to be true. The day was to be a brutal endurance test. I was at times tempted to get on the Interstate and shorten the trip but I resisted. The trip started out with a ride by the house where I grew up and then off into the countryside. Flat roads and a lot of farms. This lasted for about an hour but as I headed up the fiddler of the state the population, the traffic, the congestion, all increased dramatically. I got to see the inner-city view of North Brunswick and other cities in the Northern part of the state. Route 202 was part of my plan but I learned that in some places it just stops. No signs, no detours, just an end where another route picks up. Using my GPS I continued east or west and then north and eventually picked up 202 again. This happened several times. I made a number of mistakes in judgment but eventually got to the top of the state. I didn’t want to take the George Washington or Tappan Zee bridges to cross the Hudson River so I continued north through the beautiful Harriman state park to Bear Mountain and then across the river. The last part of the trip was on route 301 which goes from Cold Springs to Carmel. It is a lot of curves and was a joy on the bike — although it would have been better if it had been cooler.

I stopped four times for a soda or water and to stretch. The trip would have been 185 miles by the Interstate System — my trip was 270 miles and took eight hours. I am glad I did it but won’t be anxious to repeat it for awhile! Do we need the Interstate Highway System? . I don’t believe for one second that we can do without them anymore than we can do without the train system or our airline system. My adventure made me appreciate the back roads, communities, and ways of life I witnessed. The physical drain of the trip made me appreciate the efficiency of the alternative. It’s a good thing the nation’s commerce doesn’t depend on back roads and motorcycles.

Related links…

I discovered with a simple Google search that there are vast resources about every aspect of roads and highways. See Personal Road and High Pages for example, orHistory of the US Highway System. There is even a Road Geek E-mail list.