Update: Spammers Using Book Text
Ok, I have an update on my earlier post about receiving spam in my GMail inbox that contained text from "The Three Musketeers."
After looking through the rest of my spam messages, I discovered some of them also had quotes in the body of the message. Instead of the paragraphs that I was getting with the Three Musketeers spam, it was just three lines.
Searching on Google for these quotes, interestingly enough, returned only a few pages. These pages were typically hard-to-read Blogspot webpages, where the only posts were a bunch of spam messages, identical to the ones I was getting in my Spam box. Is this someone who is just posting their spam to their blog site? Or is it a method for distributing spam?
After not having much luck with Google, I decided to try the Google Book Search. Aha! Luck! And here's the bottom line: Every one of the 9 spam messages I checked contained a different set of three lines from this book:
Looking up Harry Harrison, I noticed he has a website (http://www.harryharrison.com/), which, although it could have a better web design, is probably not a spammer's homepage.
So here's my questions:
1) Why are spammers including text from books? The obvious answer to me is to try to defeat spam filters, but it certainly isn't working with GMail.
2) Why that book? Why the Three Musketeers? Or does it matter, and those were just chosen because they were available?
3) Is this copyright infringement? I'm sure everyone would love to have spammers locked away for good. I'm sure spamming is shaky legal ground, but I know copying someone's book and sending it out over email is breaking copyright. Maybe we could send these people behind bars?
I'll leave you with the book quotes. Hopefully they won't constitute copyright infringement (if they do, Mr. Harrison, please contact me and I will happily remove them).
After looking through the rest of my spam messages, I discovered some of them also had quotes in the body of the message. Instead of the paragraphs that I was getting with the Three Musketeers spam, it was just three lines.
Searching on Google for these quotes, interestingly enough, returned only a few pages. These pages were typically hard-to-read Blogspot webpages, where the only posts were a bunch of spam messages, identical to the ones I was getting in my Spam box. Is this someone who is just posting their spam to their blog site? Or is it a method for distributing spam?
After not having much luck with Google, I decided to try the Google Book Search. Aha! Luck! And here's the bottom line: Every one of the 9 spam messages I checked contained a different set of three lines from this book:
A Stainless Steel Trio: A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born/The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted/The...
by Harry Harrison
Looking up Harry Harrison, I noticed he has a website (http://www.harryharrison.com/), which, although it could have a better web design, is probably not a spammer's homepage.
So here's my questions:
1) Why are spammers including text from books? The obvious answer to me is to try to defeat spam filters, but it certainly isn't working with GMail.
2) Why that book? Why the Three Musketeers? Or does it matter, and those were just chosen because they were available?
3) Is this copyright infringement? I'm sure everyone would love to have spammers locked away for good. I'm sure spamming is shaky legal ground, but I know copying someone's book and sending it out over email is breaking copyright. Maybe we could send these people behind bars?
I'll leave you with the book quotes. Hopefully they won't constitute copyright infringement (if they do, Mr. Harrison, please contact me and I will happily remove them).
must have been settled well before the League ever found this planet.
Thats why there is no record of them.
Who are them?
my feet. So I switched off the molebind gloves and swung down, hanging
only from the soles of my boots. The blood rushed to my head-as well
it might bringing with it a surge of nausea and a sensation of great
bystanders and occasionally giving a royal flick of the hand at some
of our cheering fans. We moved on through what appeared to be a
residential quarter and beyond it into a park-like countryside. Our
darkness! Release me, do not kill me, tell me what you wish of me then
go back to the pit from which you have escaped . . .
I reached out and tweaked his nose sharply. Shut up. Open your eyes.
my shoulder and waved. And theres Floyd - and Madonette. Welcome, my
dear, welcome. I would stand to greet you, but only with difficulty.
She smiled and kissed his forehead below the bandage. Of course she
Look! I snarled. Speak! And moaning does not count as speaking.
Ever seen this thing?
This one gurgled instead of moaning, then yiped as his arm got
gear. The League did have an outpost on this planet - disguised as an
interstellar shipping firm-which contained a fully equipped machine
shop and electronic facilities.
Floyd easily outdistanced me and by the time I got to the scene,
staggering and panting, it was all ancient history. Our faithful
friend was barking and, foreleg lifted and tail outstretched, was
walked away from the others so my voice would not disturb them.
Come in Tremearne. Can you read me.
Sergeant Naenda here. The Captain is off duty this watch. Should I
posted by Alias:Kilroy at 2:08 PM
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