Lumber Cartel: Difference between revisions
→References: Lumber Cartel was an online culture jam against spammers |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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* The [[Jargon File]]: "[http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/L/Lumber-Cartel.html Lumber Cartel]" |
* The [[Jargon File]]: "[http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/L/Lumber-Cartel.html Lumber Cartel]" |
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*[http://www.ahbl.org/docs/glossary.php Glossary at the Abusive Hosts Blocklist] |
*[http://www.ahbl.org/docs/glossary.php Glossary at the Abusive Hosts Blocklist] |
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*[http://gamblingmagazine.com/articles/34/34-15.htm Gambling Magazine's 1999 article on spam, mentioning the Lumber Cartel] |
*[http://gamblingmagazine.com/articles/34/34-15.htm Gambling Magazine's 1999 article on spam, mentioning the Lumber Cartel] |
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*[http://www.lumbercartel.org/ The Lumber Cartel's DNS-based blackhole list] |
*[http://www.lumbercartel.org/ The Lumber Cartel's DNS-based blackhole list] |
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*[http://bobcathoh.50megs.com/tinLC/ The Lumber Cartel's "Offishul" page.] |
*[http://bobcathoh.50megs.com/tinLC/ The Lumber Cartel's "Offishul" page.] |
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[[Category:E-mail]] |
[[Category:E-mail]] |
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Revision as of 06:49, 22 June 2009
The Lumber Cartel was a facetious conspiracy theory popularized on USENET that claimed anti-spammers were secretly paid agents of lumber companies.[1]
In November 1997, a participant on news.admin.net-abuse.email posted an essay to the newsgroup. The essay described a conspiracy theory:
The original anti-spammer was in truth a major spammer just one day before two major lumber companies deposited a total of $275,000 into his account. He instantly stopped spamming and began what is now the biggest anti-spam ring on the Internet.[2]
The reasoning provided in the essay was that certain companies first destroy forests and make paper out of them, which is in turn used to send bulk mail. Since sending e-mail spam doesn't use paper at all, the essay argued, the lumber companies would want to stop it before it would surpass paper-based bulk mailing, and consequently only those in the pay of the lumber companies would be anti-spam.
The rationale was based in disclaimers in certain spam messages that they were using electronic means in order to save paper. The joke eventually led to a club and numerous parody websites, most of which have long since disappeared.[3]
Gatherings of anti-spammers on Usenet began to ridicule proponents of this theory, and many participants in news.admin.net-abuse.email chose to dub themselves as members of "the Lumber Cartel" in their signatures, followed immediately by the acronymic disclaimer "TinLC" (There is no Lumber Cartel), reminiscent of the There Is No Cabal catchphrase.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b Danny Goodman (2004). Spam Wars: Our Last Best Chance to Defeat Spammers, Scammers, and Hackers. SelectBooks. ISBN 1590790634.
- ^ Vladimir (Nov 14 1997). "Possible Anti-Spam Conspiracy Uncovered". news.admin.net-abuse.email. Google Groups. Retrieved 2006-07-11.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|year=(help)CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ Brian S. McWilliams (2005). Spam Kings: The Real Story behind the High-Rolling Hucksters Pushing Porn, Pills, and %*@)# Enlargements. O'Reilly Media. ISBN 0596007329.
External links
- How the Lumber Cartel started
- The Canadian Branch of the Lumber Cartel (local 42)
- The Jargon File: "Lumber Cartel"
- Glossary at the Abusive Hosts Blocklist
- Other Ways to Fry Spam at Wired
- Gambling Magazine's 1999 article on spam, mentioning the Lumber Cartel
- The Lumber Cartel's DNS-based blackhole list
- The Lumber Cartel's "Offishul" page.
- Salon.com's 1999 article on anti-spam efforts, mentioning the Lumber Cartel