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September 17, 2005
Why Spam is Good
The 300 or so spam emails I receive on a daily basis are a huge nuisance. That said, I hope they never go away. If we ever get to the point where spam is nonexistent, that would likely mean that a form of regulation will have been put in place on the internet. That would mean the Web would cease to be a free, open system owned by us—the people.
Asshats like Steve Balmer want to own the internet, and they will likely use spam as part of of the leverage for doing so. I can hear it now:
"If you let Microsoft take over the internet and run the show we can make spam disappear for good. For a small fee we can help make the internet a better place."
Spam sucks for sure, but an internet owned by Microsoft sucks a whole lot more. Molly Holzschlag has this to say in a great post on Mr. Balmer's hubris:
The Web belongs to everyone. The Web's core vision and value is to be platform independent. Microsoft has no right to think it can win a tool that is for the people, of the people, and ultimately - by the people.
The Web does belong to everyone—even spammers. That's how it works in an open system. The only true recourse we have against spammers is a dose of Darwinian economics: Until people stop clicking on the Viagra email links we are stuck with the spam. I for one think it's a small price to pay for the world's last remaining frontier.