I don't even know what to title this ...

Like many people out there, I hate spam. I expect I have less brethren who hate it so much that they make an actual effort to do something about it, but that's me. I report every spam email I get through the SpamCop reporting service, and you should to.

Usually this reporting results in very little, but it generates statistical data that puts pressure on companies to solve the problem and allows mail server administrators (like myself) to decide who to refuse mail from.

Occasionally, however, companies respond to the reports to let you know that they actually care and are doing something about it. That seems nice, except when they're lying.

I recently made a complaint about a site called uktradestreet.com. The ISP responsible for the site replied with this friendly message:

Hi

Thank you for your recent report to abuse@uk.easynet.net concerning
the web site referenced above, and its advertisement by means of
Unsolicited Commercial Email ("UCE").  This web site is in fact hosted
by one of our hosting provider customers.

Although the UCE concerned was not sent using the easynet network,
easynet take seriously the matter of web sites and domains hosted on
our network being advertised in this manner.  Condition "4. Advertising
to unsolicited recipients" of our Acceptable Use Policy addresses
this issue specifically and may be viewed at:

http://www.easynet.com/gb/en/legal/aup.aspx?mode=legal

Having carefully investigated this incident, we are satisfied that the
email sent on this occasion falls within the category of Unsolicited
Commercial Email, as generally understood by the Internet community,
the Internet Service Provider community and Internet users in general.

As a result, our hosting provider customer has given their customer
in turn given a first and final warning on this occasion, and has
informed their customer that any further repeat of the abuse will
result in termination of the web site concerned.  The web site has
additionally been suspended by our hosting provider customer whilst
discussions with their end user take place.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience that this incident may
have caused.

Kind regards

Anthony Edwards

-- 
Easynet UK Abuse Team - Easynet Ltd
Tel: 020 7900 4444
Fax: 0845 333 4503
http://www.easynet.com/gb/en/legal/aup.aspx?mode=legal

Sounds great, but I'm a skeptic, so I went back to the offensive site and found that it was not suspended as promised.

Which leads me to wonder what these people are doing? Is that just a form letter and they didn't actually go so far as to shut the site down? Or is it marketing bullshit and they didn't actually do anything, which makes that email spam in turn?

I'm sick and tired of this kind of bullshit communication.

It goes both ways. For example, I had some issues with my tax withholding for 2007. When I contacted the company that manages my employer's payroll, Paychex, they promptly refused to help me because they're not allowed to provide tax advice. Never mind the fact that I wasn't even asking for tax advice, but if I were, who would be better to ask? Of course, they're so terrified of pointless legal issues that they immediately clam up if they don't understand my question. Nice job lawyers, you've made it impossible to live in this country.

I'm hitting a similar problem with my real estate agent. I'm looking for a house, and the agent I found has been absolutely fantastic, but she's forbidden (by law) from telling me whether or not a neighborhood is a "good neighborhood" or a "bad neighborhood". Apparently, some agents have used such power for evil. But the problem is that those agents are still doing it. Their not going to stop just because there's a law, and there's no better person to ask about the quality of a neighborhood than an honest, knowledgeable agent. In the end, the legal system is screwing me, the very person that law is intended to protect.

I don't know if it's just the U.S., or if the rest of the world is going downhill like this as well. But when the legal system makes people paranoid about what they can and can't talk about, the lawyers are doing it wrong.

So, on the one hand, we have companies communicating useless and unreliable information, and on the other, we have companies with helpful information that are unwilling or prohibited by law from communicating it.

Boy are we one fucked up society.