Qwest Tries To Clarify $5 Per Spam Fee
from the nice-try dept
After people began to notice Qwest's ridiculous DSL terms of service, the company relented and changed some of them -- but leaving in a clause that says they could charge users $5 for every spam that they send over Qwest DSL lines. The clause raised questions about what would happen to users whose computers had been taken over by malware and turned into spam zombies, but the company now says people whose machines are hijacked have nothing to worry about. But some people aren't taking the statement at face value, with some commenters at Broadband Reports noting the company's comments only say it won't terminate the account of somebody with a zombiefied machine, not that it won't levy the $5 per spam fine.
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Dont trust them
Even the so called "new" companies just can't resist kicking against the goads once the world starts to change. They get too comfortable in their current mode and want to keep the status quo
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Zombiefied
If someone has their system compromized, then the fastest way to fix the problem is when the activity is noticed, shut down the connection.
When / if, the user contacts the ISP, the user should be informed of the fact that their system has been compromized.
After the first "offense" the user should be instructed on how to fix the problem, and be required to keep the system patched and up to date. That is the sole responsibility of the user.
This will force the issue with users who dont care/know their system has been compromized.
If they dont know, they can be informed and can take action, if they dont care, then they wont have access to the internet. Win win situation. If they switch over to a throw away dialup, then the spam/zombies wont push out quite as much info.
While it sucks to have to "mother hen" users, most haven't a clue and need to be informed.
Some of this stuff is so transparent due to the way MS handles things that even people who are up to date and computer literate can be subjected to that.
Anyway, just my nickle.
Frank
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ya, never know!!!
then tell me it can't happen.
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ughh.
I'm sure ISP's are not dumb enough to charge people 5$ per spam if there computer has been comprimised. Besides there looking for the people who send millions of emails a day, not someone who sent 10 messages cause his pc was comprimised.
my 2 cents.
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Well...
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Re: Well...
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Re: Well...
Why doesn't Qwest put more effort into keeping their existing customers happy (especially now that they face some real competition)? Instead they try to lure me back with ludicrous 3 month specials.
Overall to me they come off as an inept greedy company. They've ticked me off since I realized when I got DSL that they charged me for a second line fee on top of my DSL charges. Would have made them a lot more money to drop the charge.
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Qworst Revenue Enhancement
So it is not surprising that they are trying to implement increasingly predatory approaches to improving their revenue stream.
Being ignorant of the finer points of spamming, I assume a zombie could generate thousands of spams per day.
At $5.00 per pop, I can see Qworst's income improving dramatically.
It even makes business sense for Qworst to start creating their own zombies on our hardware.
Damn! And I almost had our mortgage paid off.
Oh well!
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