WSJ on spam
Bibbo Smith
By MYLENE MANGALINDAN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Wednesday, November 13, 2002
DUNEDIN, Fla. -- The sun was setting on Laura Betterly's six-bedroom house
as she reviewed a pair of outgoing e-mail messages one last time. Satisfied,
she moved her cursor to the "send" icon and clicked.
"It's that simple," Ms. Betterly said triumphantly, swiping her palms. She
had just dispatched e-mail messages to 500,000 strangers. Half saw the
subject line: "Don't miss your chance to win 2002 Lexus RX300." The other
half saw: "Win a trip to Nascar!"
Ms. Betterly's messages joined the roughly two billion other unsolicited
commercial e-mails that hit in-boxes around the world every day. The company
she runs from her home, Data Resource Consulting Inc., sends out as many as
60 million such messages a month. That puts the 41-year-old single mother in
the most hated breed on the Internet. She sends spam.
"I'm just trying to make a living like everyone else," says Ms. Betterly.
Her e-mail marketing operation, she says, allows her to raise her children,
Chris, 10, and Craig, 11, and to spend quality time with them. "You can call
me spam queen, I don't really care. As long as I'm not breaking any laws,
you don't have to love me or like what I do for a living."
Bulk e-mailers, as some spammers prefer to be called, are so unpopular that
26 states have banned their messages one way or another. Internet-service
providers try to run them off their systems. Technology start-ups with
products to filter out spam are attracting lots of venture capital. Consumer
groups are pressuring the Federal Trade Commission and Congress to regulate
bulk e-mail. Currently, there are no federal laws regarding spam, although
the FTC has cracked down on spam that is fraudulent.
There is more of it than ever. Unsolicited messages made up 36% of all
e-mail on the Internet in August, up from 8% a year ago, estimates
Brightmail, an antispam-software maker whose statistics are often cited by
legislators who want to outlaw spam. Antispammers are most outraged by
unscrupulous bulk e-mailers who clog in-boxes with promotions for
pornography or dubious get-rich-quick schemes and weight-loss plans.
Remainder of story at:
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB1037138679220447148,00.html
Joe Jared
>
> Ms. Betterly's messages joined the roughly two billion other unsolicited
> commercial e-mails that hit in-boxes around the world every day. The company
> There is more of it than ever. Unsolicited messages made up 36% of all
> e-mail on the Internet in August, up from 8% a year ago, estimates
The above stats, however they were derived and without regard to their
accuracy, would imply the following:
1.7% of all email traffic is queried to ordb.org, with minimal cached
results and downloaded zones
3.9% of all email traffic is queried to relays.osisurusoft, sans cached
results and downloaded zones.
The amount of actual spam bounced is likely significantly higher,
considering the following:
default_TTL at relays.osirusoft.com is 12 Hours
default_TTL at ordb is 30 minutes
Given the current bandwidth requirements with 12 name servers, it is
quite likely that TTL will need to be increased from 12H to 18~24H soon.
> Remainder of story at:
> http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB1037138679220447148,00.html
--
http://www.oretek.com/laptops/
Hey MicroSoft! Every Day is Windows Refund Day!
Choprboy
> For Bulk E-Mailer, Pestering Millions Offers Path to Profit
>
> By MYLENE MANGALINDAN
> Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
>
Much more disturbing, WorldCom is knowingly assisting in list-washing
complaints. The evidence is right there in the article. Quote:
---
Chris Connell, the company's computer expert, recently launched a large,
promising campaign for Ms. Betterly. "New discovery in spam the easy
way!" read the subject line on most of the 15.8 million messages he sent
out.
[snip]
There were two messages, one from Triumvirate Technologies, telling
Mr. Connell that someone read the spam about the antispam software and
bought the product for $57. Under the terms of the contract, Ms.
Betterly's company will get 40% of that, or $22.80.
But the other message was a complaint from WorldCom. A WorldCom customer
had reported an "alleged violation" of the company's policy that
prohibits spamming. "We request you take whatever measures you deem
appropriate which will ensure no further violation will occur," the
e-mail from WorldCom said.
Mr. Connell typed a response: "Problem solved. This guy won't receive
anything from us again." He flagged the name of the offended e-mail
recipient on Ms. Betterly's list so that person wouldn't be contacted again.
WorldCom says that if problems with a spammer persist, the company will
send increasingly stern notices and eventually cut off service.
---
Well... There you go, straight from the spammer's mouth. WorldCom is
actively assisting spammer's to list-wash and will only "eventually cut
off service".
Adrian
-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----
MiX - no email replies thx
news:B9F7B56D.C621%hab...@finbar.com...
> For Bulk E-Mailer, Pestering Millions Offers Path to Profit
>
> By MYLENE MANGALINDAN
> Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
>
> Wednesday, November 13, 2002
>
> DUNEDIN, Fla.
Or, to be a little more accurate: Laura A Betterly, 717 Weathersfield
Drive, Dunedin, FL 34698 - Phone: 727-733-5335 - email
<la...@dataresourceconsulting.com> (shoo, bot, shoo!)
> -- The sun was setting on Laura Betterly's six-bedroom house
> as she reviewed a pair of outgoing e-mail messages one last time.
Satisfied,
> she moved her cursor to the "send" icon and clicked.
So this reporter was watching a crime-in-progress.
> "It's that simple," Ms. Betterly said triumphantly, swiping her palms. She
> had just dispatched e-mail messages to 500,000 strangers. Half saw the
> subject line: "Don't miss your chance to win 2002 Lexus RX300." The other
> half saw: "Win a trip to Nascar!"
Funny, none of those subject lines appeared to have made it to NANAS. Looks
like the bulk, if not all, of them didn't make it through. What a pity ;)
> Ms. Betterly's messages joined the roughly two billion other unsolicited
> commercial e-mails that hit in-boxes around the world every day. The
company
> she runs from her home, Data Resource Consulting Inc.,
Or, to be more accurate:
http://www.sunbiz.org/scripts/cordet.exe?a1=DETFIL&n1=P02000083737&n2=OFFFWD
&n3=0001&n4=P&r1=&r2=&r3=&r4=&r5=&r6=&r7=BETTERLY&r8= or
http://tinyurl.com/2nly
Sheesh, sunbiz.org? Even the fscking Floridian Corporations Online search
site has a spammy name!
Anyway...
<quote>
Florida Profit
DATA RESOURCE CONSULTANTS, INC.
PRINCIPAL ADDRESS
717 WEATHERSFIELD DRIVE
DUNEDIN FL 34698
MAILING ADDRESS
717 WEATHERSFIELD DRIVE
DUNEDIN FL 34698
Document Number
P02000083737
FEI Number
NONE
Date Filed
08/02/2002
State
FL
Status
ACTIVE
Effective Date
08/01/2002
Registered Agent
Name & Address
BETTERLY, LAURA A
717 WEATHERSFIELD DRIVE
DUNEDIN FL 34698
Officer/Director Detail
Name & Address
Title
BETTERLY, LAURA A
717 WEATHERSFIELD DRIVE
DUNEDIN FL 34698
P
CEFAIL, ROBERT J
4956 ORANGE GROVE WAY
PALM HARBOR FL 34684
V
[My note to this: no mention of "Stev e Blom" (Steve Blom) who appears in
the WHOIS data for dataresourceconsulting.com in the corporation search]
</quote>
So this "company" was only filed at start of August. Somehow, I doubt that
the amount of spamming that s/h/it has done has paid for her 6-bedroom
house.
> sends out as many as
> 60 million such messages a month. That puts the 41-year-old single mother
in
> the most hated breed on the Internet. She sends spam.
Like we (tinw) are meant to show some latitude because she's a single mum?
Yeah right.
> "I'm just trying to make a living like everyone else," says Ms. Betterly.
> Her e-mail marketing operation, she says, allows her to raise her
children,
> Chris, 10, and Craig, 11, and to spend quality time with them. "You can
call
> me spam queen, I don't really care. As long as I'm not breaking any laws,
> you don't have to love me or like what I do for a living."
Unabashed spammer - seems that it's rapidly becoming part of Floridian
culture. Wonder how long before the place gets a spamming "trade union"
(well, apart from the DMA).
<snip rest of story>
From http://www.wordsinarow.com/email_lists.html:
<quote>
Opt-In Email List Resources
This list of providers of opt-in e-mail addresses is provided as a public
service for internet marketers. I created this alphabetical list because I
couldn't find a central resource anywhere online listing all the providers
of opt-in email lists.
Please send me an email at <email...@wordsinarow.com> if you know of
another resource for opt-in email lists, or if the information here is
incorrect or needs to be updated on a particular company. I try to keep this
page updated regularly. The comments are mine -- based on my experiences
with the list providers in trying to locate for one of my clients an opt-in
email list of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) who own their own
businesses.
<snip>
This page was last updated on November 10, 2002.
Best of luck to you --
Jere Matlock
<snip>
Data Resource Consulting has 130+ million fully opted-in unique e-mail
identities through their own proprietary and affiliated databases.
Targetable by areas of interest (music buyers, software buyers,
entertainment buyers, lifestyles, online purchasers, technology users, etc.)
and more. Visit the On-Line Resources area of their site for more
information.
Also has 70+ million unique identities with full physical data, targetable
by: areas of interest, income, age, geographic location, home ownership,
credit score, and many more categories.
Contact: Laura Betterly
President, Data Resource Consulting
Phone: 727-733-5335
</quote>
Along with numerous other spammers' contact details.
And finally, to show what dumbasses spammers are, from
http://www.dataresourceconsulting.com/about.htm:
<quote>
Please visit our web site to find out how we can help expand your business
or contact us to discuss opportunities in greater detail.
</quote>
[I was actually on their website, so why are they asking me to visit their
website?]
Mary Conner
<gmc...@mcgathREMOVETHIS.com> wrote:
>(Why is time which parents spend with their children always claimed to
>have some special, never-identified "quality" which other activities
>don't have, regardless of the quality of the people involved?)
That particular term originated with feel-good psychnannies who were
trying to lessen the guilt of superparents who had little time to
spend with their children. The theory was that if you only had 15
minutes a day to spend with your children, you could pump those
minutes full of extra special "quality" and make it better than hours
that might be spent with children by "ordinary" parents.
Jim Seymour
Choprboy <ad_j...@hotmail.com> writes:
[snip]
>
> Well... There you go, straight from the spammer's mouth. WorldCom is
> actively assisting spammer's to list-wash and will only "eventually cut
> off service".
Simply further evidence that my policy toward spew-spew-net-/WCOM-
originated spam is the correct one: list netblock on receipt of
spam therefrom.
Regards,
Jim
--
Jim Seymour | "Some of the lies are so strange it
WARNING: The "From:" address is a | makes you wonder about the spammer's
spam trap. DON'T USE IT! Use: | sanity."
jsey...@LinxNet.com | - Ed Foster, "The Gripe Line" 6/24/02
J
spam through. Does anyone have the lowdown on this sow? I'm thinking
a Spamhaus entry for her and her cronies is in order. Been booted off
3 ISPs. What's the ROKSO requirement? If anyone has any domains or
netblocks to feed our personal blacklists...
J
Scott Packard
The response rates quoted are interesting:
0.013%, income before expenses: $40, after expenses: -$210
But her second deal paid better.
If she could sell 3D glasses, a mortgage lead, or a cellphone,
she could see more money. Well, if she also had a very good
leads database.
The article says had a 0.0023% response rate from the "good"
leads database and generated $1,555 commissions.
The math:
0.0023% response rate, income before expenses: $1,555
after expenses -$198,845 (1)
Oh yea, spam pays!
Regards, Scott
(1) includes the $200,000 "good leads" database
that she got for free as part of arbitrating a deal between two
other companies, and the estimated $400 costs of a spam run
Laura Betterly
> For Bulk E-Mailer, Pestering Millions Offers Path to Profit
>
> By MYLENE MANGALINDAN
> Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
>
> Wednesday, November 13, 2002
>
> DUNEDIN, Fla. -- The sun was setting on Laura Betterly's six-bedroom house
> as she reviewed a pair of outgoing e-mail messages one last time.
> Satisfied, she moved her cursor to the "send" icon and clicked.
[snip]
There's also a lively discussion on this over at Slashdot.
--
[ Ask me about my unsolicited e-mail! ]
la...@dataresourceconsulting.com
in...@dataresourceconsulting.com
onl...@dataresourceconsulting.com
http://www.dataresourceconsulting.com
Larry M. Smith
> "Bibbo Smith" <hab...@finbar.com> wrote in message
> news:B9F7B56D.C621%hab...@finbar.com...
>
(snipped good info)
I also note the following;
<quote WSJ>
A friend in Tampa along with her ex-husband keep the company's computers
and servers running
(snipage)
From the PC in his tidy two-bedroom Tampa apartment, Chris Connell, the
company's computer expert, recently launched a large, promising campaign
for Ms. Betterly.
</quote>
http://www.visualgov.com/pinellascounty/RETaxBill.aspx?ItemNumber=44940
<quote>
Assessed Value 307,300
Exempt Value 0
Taxable Value 307,300
Parcel# 36/28/15/95321/000/0360
Site Address 717 WEATHERSFIELD DR
BETTERLY, LAURA A
717 WEATHERSFIELD DR
DUNEDIN, FL 34698-7437
BETTERLY LAURA A
BETTERLY JOEL O
03/27/2000
JUDGMENT
DISSOL MARR
HILLSBOROUGH
</quote>
google "Joel Betterly" or "Chris Connell" +tampa yealds:
http://www.safebackup.net/faq.htm
<quote>
11. Where is SafeBackup.net located?
We are located in down town Tampa, in Florida.
[...]
13. Who are you and why should I trust you with my data?
SafeBackup.net is a business started in Tampa, Florida. It has two
primary owners, Chris Connell and Joel Betterly. Using state of the art
technology and equipment, they decided to use the resources they had to
enhance other businesses. They are both highly trained professionals
that know and understand the Internet and computers. Knowing the value
of your data and its importance to you is a job they take very serious.
Their goal is to provide you with the very best service at an
affordable price but allowing you the safety and comfort that you need.
<quote>
SgtChains
phobos
> Bibbo Smith wrote:
>
> > For Bulk E-Mailer, Pestering Millions Offers Path to Profit
> >
> > By MYLENE MANGALINDAN
> > Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
> >
> > Wednesday, November 13, 2002
> >
> > DUNEDIN, Fla. -- The sun was setting on Laura Betterly's six-bedroom house
> > as she reviewed a pair of outgoing e-mail messages one last time.
> > Satisfied, she moved her cursor to the "send" icon and clicked.
> [snip]
>
> There's also a lively discussion on this over at Slashdot.
With a whole lot of spam-apologists crawling out of the woodwork, too.
The very worst kinds of frea-speachers. And also many Anonymous
Cowards advocating all sorts of nasty behaviour that would never be
endorsed here (honest)...