1. I have to say this is very ironic for me as I am experiencing the almost exact situation as Mr. Richter. Our company has had 2 of our own websites suspended, one for good because of a 3'rd party company named SpamCop. One of our sites was reported for sending nigerian scam email! This is definately not true, but it is hard for me to chuckle when facing the trouble my business is about to endure. We are also in Florida where there is no spam law implimented.To me this is extortion.

"Either you get rid of the website we reported to you Mr. Hosting Provider or we'll break your knee-caps!"

I talked to the FTC by telephone for alomost an hour going over the CAN-SPAM act which the president signed that says: I CAN SEND AN EMAIL TO ANYONE I WANT AS LONG AS I FOLLOW SAID GUIDELINES".

Since when can a 3'rd party company supersede a federal ACT and the FTC? The fact is that BIG business is causing yet another problem in America. Are you surprised? Look at all the past issues the USA has had ie.: Enron, ImClone, etc.. Heck, Even PayPal/Ebay were one way or another involved in illegal offshore gambling at one time.

As it stands now when looking for new email box's and hosting providers. The moment I mention anything about SpamCop I either get hung up on or told, "we can't help you". I say they're partly to blame. But hey, if our websites dont do well we wont need their hosting anymore. That means they will make less money. Yet another reason I dont see why hosting companies are not backing up their clients that are sending legal email. You do have to think about that "we'll break your knee-caps" though. They might want to back their clients up but are afraid for their companies welfare! THIS IS EXTORTION! Rather simple really.

Mr. Richter, we are behind you 100%. If we can help you or anyone else in anyway, contact us @ 1-866-556-9573

So they called you the "Spam King" huh? Funny thing is the vast majority of end users don't know the difference between real spam ie. : spoofs, scams, mail you cannot respond to, mail you cant stop getting over and over, mail from fake a company or fake person etc... and a legal marketing email from a good ol' USA company whos' name is not Amazon or Ebay.

Posted at 4:51AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Paul Belinne

2. Mr. Richter, you should be ashamed of yourself. People don't want spam! And if you do keep sending it, people will fight back. Stop sending spam that people don't want and get into another line of work.

Posted at 4:51AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Harry

3. Paul Belinne writes:

"Seeing that I am a below the knee amputee and the fact that new prosthetic limbs cost $14,000.00+. My websites have to be successful or I do not get to walk."

Mr. Belinne, in all your respectability, we all feel sorry about your injury. However, the aforementioned statement is synonymous with "I am poor, therefore, I should be allowed to steal."

Just what kind of "success" do you hope for your business? Inventing a cure for cancer would be one type of entrepreneurship, but would I be surprised to see just another HYPER-ONLINE-SUCCESS-WORK-AT-HOME-MARKETING-CASH-GET-RICH-QUICK type of "business".

Ironic how many of these "entrepreneurs" are graduates of a college "Business" course.

Posted at 4:51AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Cornelius Strawberry

4. Cornelius Strawberry ( if thats your real name ). It seems you neglected to reflect on any main points to this article. But rather attacked me personally leading to preconceived conclusions about my network. Try having a look for yourself at the "HYPER-ONLINE-SUCCESS-WORK-AT-HOME-MARKETING-CASH-GET-RICH-QUICK type of "business"." so you labeled it, and please rethink your inaccurate judgements and stereotyping.

"Just what kind of "success" do you hope for your business?"

How about: if successful, what types of things can your business do to help others?

A: A whole lot more than the majority is doing right now. Are you satisfied?

Posted at 4:51AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Paul Belinne

5. Dear Paul,
I've been on the WWW ever since 1995 and I am amazed at the proliferation of spam. This is in no small part thanks to people like your idol Mr Richter.

No matter what you claim, the bottom line is, if Spamcop is reporting you then you must have been sending out unsolicited emails to a certain extent. I personally take care to report every piece of spam I receive, and I can confidently say the same for the hundreds of thousands of other spamcop users.

This is no Salem Witchhunt, Paul. It takes more than one or two complains for your ISP or your host to kick you off their network. The only logical conclusion is that you have sent out enough unsolicited emails - probably in the region of millions - to generate the thousand or so complains that will finally spring your host or ISP into action by kicking you off their network.

To put it not so subtly, I believe that it is people like yourself who are responsible for the hundreds of spam that I, along with hundreds of millions of average internet users, receive every month.

You epitomise the very kind of person the anti spam movement targets. The remorseless, shameless spammer who wallows in self pity with each anti spam legislation passed. You do not deserve our sympathy. If there ever was a witch hunt in the first place, you definitely deserve to be burnt at the stake.

P/S
And please don't try getting our sympathy by telling us about your condition. I don't buy any of it. If the thousands of other people with the same condition as yourself can eke out an honest living by other means, you can too. Cornelius is correct.

Posted at 4:51AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Ennileb Laup the loof

6. As a matter of fact we had less than 8 spam reports before our host began taking action. We never sent anywhere near millions of emails. Not even anywhere near 100,000. I do not epitomise anything other than someone seeking limited exposure for certain websites on my network to get them started. Mr. Richter is no idol of mine.

About my prosthetic limb comment. How do you see it as seeking sympathy? It is simply motivation for myself to see that my websites succeed. Do you take walking for granted? I do not. Also, the fact that the federal gov. says that I "am not" disabled and offers me no assistance whatsoever, yet a drug addict/criminal can receive bennefits at anytime. Also motivates me to do well.

Yes spam is anoying, I just dont concider a one time promotional email spam. It's when these morons send you the same stupid emails over and over. I feel the vast numbers of actual spammers are making a bad name for anyone who sends one time promotional emails.

You both are ttally missing the point that what spam cop does is extortion. And I also think you both need to go over the Federal Can Spam Act and understand what it does.

Posted at 4:51AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Paul Belinne