My MMF Response Template Page
NOTES:
You are welcome to copy, edit, and use this template yourself. This one's a bit long, because I included a whole lot of checkboxs and stuff - you can edit it down all you want. Disclaimer: I will be in no way held responsible for any action arising from your use of this template. There, that should be simple enough even for lawyers.
I normally only send this to postmaster@ and abuse@ the ISP that the MMF appears to originate from. If I get no response, or mail bounces from both of those addresses (even though postmaster is a required address to hold an ISP), I start further down the list
If the MMF'er appears to live outside of the United States, remove the inappropriate cc: list items and (if desired) the paragraph in the body of the letter. The paragraph, however, is worded so that it can be left in even when sending to foreign ISPs
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS include FULL headers of the article in question, otherwise there is no way to track the perpetrator.
Because you are probably not maintaining a web page as noted in the body of the notice, you will want to remove that portion. Unless, of course, you want to forward any new information to me for inclusion on the web page. Please be sure to check to see if your information has already been put in place if you intend to do this by checking the page.
Also, if you have PGP available, you should PGP sign your documents of this sort. Two main reasons - 1) it makes them cabable of verification should the need arise, and 2) there is something about a PGP signed message that commands more attention than the average rant or rave from unhappy people. If you don't have PGP for your computer, get it.
Start of Template
To: postmaster, abuse, admin, comments, support, accounts, webmaster, root
From:
Subject: Illegal Internet Chain Letter
Cc: originalposter@isp.name, bbroder@ftc.gov (Ms. Broder), jccheezum@uspis.gov (US Postal Inspection Service)
[ ] ISP Personnel: please read notes just prior to quoted material if marked
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Below is quoted in its entirety a message (plus header information) that
was spammed across the usenet newsgroups, apparently by one of your
users, attempting to futher an illegal chain letter scheme in violation of
Federal US and individual State statutes, as well as those of most other
countries:
"Chain letters are a form of gambling, and sending them through the mail
(or delivering them in person or by computer, but mailing money to
participate) violates Title 18, United States Code, Section 1302, the
Postal Lottery Statute. Regardless of what technology is used to advance
the scheme, if the mail is used at any step along the way, it is
illegal."
- U.S. Postmaster General, 22 July 1995.
http://www.usps.gov/websites/depart/inspect/chainlet.htm
for more information about chain letters:
http://www.cadvantage.com/~gfoiles/fraud.html
These rulings in the the US echo nearly identical rulings in many other
countries, including (but not limited to): Canada, Australia, Japan, Great
Britain, Ireland, Holland, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Malaysia, and most
other countries. If your country is not listed here, and has rulings
pertaining this matter, please respond with data concerning that ruling, or
a pointer to where such data can be found so that records can be updated.
In addition, even if this activity is legal in your country, these postings
probably violate your own system's "Acceptable Use Policy" (AUP) and/or
"Terms of Service" (TOS).
Please take appropriate action against your user. Many SysAdmins are
either suspending posting capabilities or terminating the account
altogether for these kind of activities, and I hope you are one of these.
This kind of trash degrades everyone's experience with using the internet,
and traps and suckers many innocent victims.
If applicable (i.e., the spammer appears to live in the US), copies of this
message have been forwarded to bbroder@ftc.gov (Ms. Broder, the Federal
Trade Commission staff attorney assigned to these cases), and
jccheezum@uspis.gov (Mr. J.C. Cheezum of the US Postal Inspection Service),
as well as a separate message to the US Internal Revenue Service
highlighting this person's claim to have made a large quantity of money in
small bills.
Please feel free to let me know what your response to this individual is,
whether it be "who gives a damn, let him go" or "his account has been
terminated" or whatever in between.
Your prompt action is appreciated on behalf of all legitimate users of the
internet.
[your name]
[your email address]
additional notes for ISP personnel (ONLY checked items apply):
___________________________________________________________
[ ] This article was posted via Multi-Posting rather than Cross-Posting,
wasting even more of usenet's resources and the resources of the
systems on which it was required to be stored.
[ ] This article was originally in the form of a(n) [insert document type]
document, which was then
[ ] uuencoded
[ ] base64 encoded
[ ] other encoding form:
and attached to the article(s) in question. This document has been
converted to plaintext here for your convenience. The original
article(s) will remain on file here for three (3) days, should you
require a copy of it/them.
[ ] This user appears at closer inspection to have attempted to avoid
tracing by using the following faked or forged headers:
[ ] username/email address [ ] Path:
[ ] Message ID: [ ] NNTP Posting Host:
[ ] other (specify):
The attempt to hide their identity will no doubt be a potent argument
against any "I didn't know it was illegal!" defense they may make when
confronted, else why would they take pains to hide their identity
(despite having to give their real name and/or mailing address in the
body of the letter).
[ ] WARNING! Please use extra caution when tracking this person down.
Several things about this letter make it possible that it was posted
as "revenge" on the person named in the article, namely:
[ ] Your country is not on my list of countries of which it is known
whether this type of chain letter scheme is or is not legal. Although
I realize you have may have had hundeds of responses to this abuse,
please take a moment to respond to my request above for information
on whether or not it is legal in your country, so that records may be
updated. This information is being incorporated into a FAQ and a
WWW Web page for reference for others (The web page can be found at:
http://www.pacifier.com/~klucke/mmf/index.html). Forward any data
which you feel is pertinent to the laws involved to klucke@pacifier.com.
[ ] Your country is known to hold these schemes as illegal, but a definitive
pointer to the actual law involved has not been received. If you can
provide a pointer or actual text (with appropriate titles, sections, and
subsections), this information would be most helpful, as above.
[ ] Two or more articles are attached, each with different subject or
newsgroup headers, representing different articles having been sent by
this user.
quoted material begins below
=====================================
[insert quoted article here, including full headers]
=====================================
quoted material ends above
End of Template
All comments within these pages are expressed as personal opinions only.
© 1997 Ken Lucke - all rights reserved
