Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ub!clarkson!rchland.vnet.ibm.com!seurer From: seurer@rchland.vnet.ibm.com (Bill Seurer) Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk Subject: Re: Prodigy charged with invading users' privacy Message-ID: Date: 6 May 91 21:09:36 GMT References: <1991Apr30.184714.4675@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> <1991Apr30.185752.4913@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> <57M001546bv800@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com>, <1991May04.030521.13471@vpnet.chi.il.us> Reply-To: "Bill Seurer" Lines: 31 In-Reply-To: <1991May04.030521.13471@vpnet.chi.il.us> Excerpts from netnews.comp.org.eff.talk: 4-May-91 Re: Prodigy charged with in.. Louis Giliberto@vpnet.ch (2565) > So if those guys were sending bulk junk mail to other users, how would > Prodigy know without looking at it? And, if they use some form of electronic > sentry to sniff out key words such as "bomb," is that not an inspection? > This is off of the subject, but I just noticed it when I looked at the > agreement. I don't see how they could justify their action without admitting > a breach of contract or license or whatever you call it. > Does anyone else see this, or am I looking at things sideways? It could be that one of the recipients complained about the contents of the message(s). If you get an "objectionable" message, Prodigy asks that you notify them and they will "take care of it." I assume at that point they go look at the message (which is OK 'cause you asked them to). Since every message has the distribution list of who it was sent to at the bottom, if one recipient complained, Prodigy would know the contents AND that it was "bulk" mailed. I can't find the post that the above poster references so I'm not sure of the details. The only time I ever considered doing this was just before they started charging for over 30 messages/month and some jerk sent me (and dozens of others) about a hundred messages. I was just about to complain when I noticed that the time on the messages was just after the "free" cutoff. The guy had forgotten that the cutoff was at midnight Eastern time. I sure hope he enjoyed the bill! :-) - Bill Seurer Programming Support IBM Rochester, MN Prodigy: CNSX71A Internet: seurer@rchland.vnet.ibm.com