As the Apple Turns: Scene 332: Spammers Back Down (1/5/98)

Spammers Back Down (1/5/98)

By the time we broadcast yesterday's episode, in which we mentioned the blackmail drama between the spam-kings known as the National Organization of Internet Commerce and the big stinking bus puttering down the information superhighway known to all as AOL, it appears that the blackmail threat had already been rescinded. According to Techweb, NOIC withdrew its threat "out of respect" for the wishes of the 5 million AOL customers whose email addresses the NOIC planned to release to the world this Thursday.

Despite their feeling that AOL's spam-ban constitutes censorship on the part of the ISP (!), it's nevertheless good to hear that, collectively, the NOIC has at least the four functioning brain cells required to see that posting those addresses would have gained them nothing. Once the addresses were posted, would AOL change its mind about spam? No. Would the 5 million users who already receive more spam than anyone else on the net-- part of joining AOL is getting a big target painted on your butt and a note pinned to your back that says "SPAM ME"-- suddenly throw their full support behind the NOIC's cause? No. Would anyone be won over to the NOIC's side by such an act of blatant cyberterrorism? No. So bravo on their decision; now maybe they'll collectively sprout a fifth brain cell and stop trying to shove spam down people's throats in the first place.

And apparently the NOIC's change of heart happened several hours before the AtAT episode was broadcast. So never let it be said that AtAT lets a pesky thing like the truth (or being well-informed) get in the way of a good episode. ;-)

SceneLink (332)

And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors

As an Amazon Associate, AtAT earns from qualifying purchases

The above scene was taken from the 1/5/98 episode:

January 5, 1998: (Sorry—this was before we started writing intro text for each episode!)

Other scenes from that episode:

330: PowerExpress Kaput? (1/5/98) So a great many of us are looking at the Powermac G3 longingly, envious of the high MacBench scores but hesitant to buy because these are the "midrange" G3 systems. There are a slew of power users out there whose Photoshop fingers are twitching, but they're waiting for the new PowerExpress machines, due to ship in the Spring, that will fill in the high end of Apple's Macintosh line...
331: MacTell Does Windows (1/5/98) Spock, Bones, what do you make of this? Our buddies over at MacCentral report that MacTell, one of the last remaining Mac cloners (especially now that PowerTools is getting squeezed by Apple and UMAX), is jumping into the Wintel waters by shipping a new line of Alpha-based Windows NT servers, dubbed "MediaServer." And as MacCentral kindly reminds us, remember when Power Computing announced it would sell Windows servers in order to "augment" their Mac OS sales?...

Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast...


	As an Amazon Associate, AtAT earns from qualifying purchases


	DISCLAIMER: AtAT was not a news site any more than Inside Edition was a "real" news show. We made Dawson's Creek look like 60 Minutes. We engaged in rampant guesswork, wild speculation, and pure fabrication for the entertainment of our viewers. Sure, everything here was "inspired by actual events," but so was Amityville II: The Possession. So lighten up. Site best viewed with a sense of humor. AtAT is not responsible for lost or stolen articles. Keep hands inside car at all times. The drinking of beverages while watching AtAT is strongly discouraged; AtAT is not responsible for damage, discomfort, or staining caused by spit-takes or "nosers." Everything you see here that isn't attributed to other parties is copyright ©,1997-2024 J. Miller and may not be reproduced or rebroadcast without his explicit consent (or possibly the express written consent of Major League Baseball, but we doubt it).