Stop editing the damn subject (was Re: The End Of WesternCivilization (was Re: RoadRunner nonsense (was Re: fwd: RE: STFU RE))

Mon Mar 3 15:34:23 CST 2008

Is that going against some kind of standard or RFC to change the subject
line of a threaded messages thus sending the email off to some other
thread that may not be related to what the thread was originally meant
to be? 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: kclug-bounces at kclug.org 
> [mailto:kclug-bounces at kclug.org] On Behalf Of Billy Crook
> Sent: Monday, March 03, 2008 2:58 PM
> To: Leo Mauler
> Cc: kclug at kclug.org
> Subject: Stop editing the damn subject (was Re: The End Of 
> WesternCivilization (was Re: RoadRunner nonsense (was Re: 
> fwd: RE: STFU RE))
> 
> See, now isn't that annoying?  Cut it out, for the love of god.  There
> is a reason emails have subject lines.  It's so I can mute them in
> gmail, and not be bothered with that thread again.  When people change
> the subject line it pollutes everyone's inbox, and breaks threaded
> reading and sorting.  Stop It.  Stop it now.  Internet pollution kills
> baby seals.
> 
> If you're going to change the subject line, change the damn subject,
> and write a completely different unrelated email.
> 
> On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 2:11 PM, Leo Mauler <webgiant at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > --- Jonathan Hutchins <hutchins at tarcanfel.org> wrote:
> >
> >  > On Tuesday 26 February 2008 13:06:06 Billy Crook
> >  > wrote:
> >  >
> >  > > If one were to look at how their opt-out page
> >  > > works, you http get with a few args, one of
> >  > > which is your modem's mac address.  You could
> >  > > just as easily post with any other cable
> >  > > modem's mac address, if say, you had multiple,
> >  > > and didn't want to visit each physical location
> >  > > of them, or maybe ....
> >  >
> >  > ... you could just type the correct url in the
> >  > first place.
> >  >
> >  > Yes, it's annoying.  No, it's not the end of Western
> >  > Civilization.
> >  >
> >  > Get a grip, guys.
> >
> >  It may not be the end of Western Civilization, but its
> >  certainly being handled very insecurely by RoadRunner.
> >
> >  This guy (blogger link below) has done some poking
> >  around and discovered how RoadRunner is going about
> >  the "opt-in/opt-out" process for its new services
> >  (thats right, plural, see below), and it is a little
> >  scary from a security perspective.
> >
> >  http://rgov.org/road-runners-dns-wildcard
> >
> >  Basically RoadRunner is using an open HTTP GET
> >  request, and no SSL, for your "Preferences" page.  It
> >  is possible for anyone to request the "Preferences"
> >  page for every single customer, and with this
> >  information you gain the geographical location of
> >  every single RoadRunner customer (and thus where to
> >  direct your own ISP's advertising to best effect,
> >  especially if you don't redirect "failed DNS requests"
> >  to an advertising page).
> >
> >  But RoadRunner has not one but *three* new services
> >  you can opt into or out of.  Services which, when
> >  their options are set very unfavorably to the
> >  customer, result in an interesting and profitable
> >  situation for Internet Advertisers, and in particular
> >  a certain class of advertiser.
> >
> >  # Web Address Error Redirect Service:
> >  (the service everyone is complaining about, which
> >  sends you to a page containing ads from advertisers
> >  who are advertising with RoadRunner)
> >
> >  # Typo Correction Service:
> >  (fixes common typos in URLs, such as cmo or nte)
> >
> >  But the third one should be of some concern for those
> >  with small children:
> >
> >  # Safe Search Filter:
> >  "This preference allows you to restrict adult-oriented
> >  content from search results on the non-existing domain
> >  landing service."
> >
> >  Since there are only approximately 16,777,216 MAC
> >  addresses the way RoadRunner is handling the service,
> >  you could write a script which, for example, opted
> >  every RoadRunner customer *into* "Web Address Error
> >  Redirect Service", *out of* "Typo Correction Service"
> >  (which increases the possibility that the RoadRunner
> >  "Failed DNS Request" page will pop up), and *out of*
> >  "Safe Search Filter".  And it wouldn't take long to
> >  run the script, or be much trouble to run it once a
> >  week.
> >
> >  And then you, as the owner of "Adult Content Website
> >  Advertising Consortium", then use the advertising
> >  revenue you collect from your adult website members to
> >  buy HUGE amounts of adult content web advertising.
> >  Every time a RoadRunner customer mistypes a URL, or
> >  types in a non-existent URL, the RoadRunner page will
> >  pop up and send adult content advertising related to
> >  the customer's failed URL request (Rule #34 of the
> >  Internet: "If it exists, there is porn of it.").
> >
> >  You don't even need to be an adult content advertising
> >  consortium.  Just pay for "first placement" on the
> >  RoadRunner Ad Page...err, I mean "Failed DNS Request
> >  Page", and then run the script opting every RoadRunner
> >  customer *into* "Web Address Error Redirect Service"
> >  and *out of* "Typo Correction Service".  The
> >  RoadRunner customer will see the RoadRunner "Failed
> >  DNS Request Page" more often than they would like to
> >  see it, and your ads will be seen more often than any
> >  other ad.
> >
> >  Spam has proven that many Internet Advertisers have no
> >  shame, decency, and/or ethics.  This move by
> >  RoadRunner will be exploited, and exploited soon, and
> >  with any luck the complaints from customers (and the
> >  lawsuits from parents) will bring it to an end fairly quickly.
> >
> >
> >       
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