The Anti-Spam Company Conflict
from the where's-the-incentive dept
You always have to wonder about businesses that are based on the premise that, if they're really successfully in what they do, you won't need them any more. That's certainly the case with anti-spam companies, who are apparently making pretty good money these days. While I'm sure that the vast majority of them do mean well, and plenty of their tools work very well in stamping out spam - you do have to wonder about their incentives to really stop spam. If spam were stopped, then these companies wouldn't have much of a reason for being in business any more. In other words, the more successful they are, the less successful they will be. That's a tough business proposition for any company.
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This is not new
This is also the case in many other businesses... doctors and car mechanics, for example. So this isn't really new, and people, as consumers, are either aware of this or not.
In a free market system, consumers have a choice about which vendor to use, and it's up to them to be aware that they have a choice.
Also, just like doctors and car mechanics, fixing one problem doesn't fix all problems. The spammers are crafty and are constantly tuning their "product". The anti-spammers then have to be craftier in response.
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Re: This is not new
Spam is a problem that, if it's successfully blocked, the incentive for spamming goes away, and the problem goes away.
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No Subject Given
These new anti-spam companies will likely diversify their product lines once the market for their product matures.
Let's just hope they don't take after the volunteer firefighter who drummed up business for his department.
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Most do not try to solve the root problem
So if there is a change in the future that reduces or eliminates the ability of spammers to carry out their work (not likely in the sort term) perhaps the anti-spam companies will be in trouble.
But really this is no different from other computer technologies. Look at the compainies that did CD burning. Or companies that did scanning of images or any number of other techniologies that were onces expensive and difficult but is now cheap/commonplace.
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The March of Dimes had a Similar Problem
- The Precision Blogger
http://precision-blogging.blogspot.com
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