OT: Registering/Accounts with online vendors

[dattaway at attaway.net]

On Sat, 20 Jul 2002, Bob Batson wrote:

> Would someone please explain to me a so-called "feature" of many
> commercial retailers who do business on the world wide web?
> 
> I'm talking about the website retailer's requirement that a potential
> buyer (in this case, me) establish an account (with my email address
> plus password) before I can place an order.
> 
> In my opinion, not only is this a potential privacy problem (identity
> theft), it's also a potential security problem (credit card theft).

This is why I really like the ability to create email accounts for each
business I deal with.  With a dedicated net connection, it made sense for
me to make a dedicated mail server.  It brings me great satisfaction to
discover a company that spams.  So far, only a handful of companies have
opted me in to their newsletters, such as Discover Card.  I no longer use
their business.

That leaves my main mailbox free for my trusted friends.  If one of my 
friends makes the mistake of sending a e-greeting card that opts me into 
their annoying mailing lists, I just click on it to put them into iptables 
permenantely.  Interestingly, the only real place where spammers seem to 
come from is the usenet newsgroups.  I figure those people who try to make 
the money from being annoying, try to sell trojanware that scan usenet 
newsgroups for victims.

Why drive a car when you can ride a bike?
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