Looking For Solutions

In last week's "Whistle Blower" edition, I presented you with the problem of Habeas, Inc. If you missed it, you can view the "On the Carpet" column online at:

http://www.i-Cop.org/wb/011303.htm

All week long, I did nothing but answer email about this situation. The most commonly asked question was, "What can we do?" The answer had to be, "I'm not sure. Yet."

Upon reflection, I realized that Habeas isn't doing anything YET they can be nailed for. They are merely providing a service. It will be the ISPs who may require their header later, or who set their spam filters to block everything without the Habeas header, who may be liable.

I believe the plan isn't to "force" but to "squeeze." No one is "required" to buy the Habeas license. Yet, it will be easier to buy their "license" than to try to operate without it. At this point, they haven't actually done anything they can be sued for. So this could be a long battle. I don't think they are going to blatant about taking control of email. This IS a well thought-out plan!

Additional Information ...

Before we proceed to any possible solutions, let's look at some more facts on various related subjects. Habeas, Inc. has been funded with venture capital from Skymoon Ventures, in Palo Alto, California. In fact, although Skymoon subsidizes other companies too, Habeas, Inc. shares their physical address. I suggest you look at the list of Skymoon Ventures' clients at the URL below. It will give you a very good idea of what KINDS of companies they're funding.

http://www.skymoonventures.com/portco.htm

Next, I suggest that you take a look at Habeas, Inc.'s Advisory Board & Technical Advisory Board. These guys are serious – I wouldn't sell them short on their power.

http://www.habeas.com/about/advboard.htm

I'm finding this a bit confusing. We would expect the spam filtering industry to be onboard. What I wouldn't expect are some of these other companies – and they're the FIRST ones in the ring! In fact, some of them are among the Habeas advisors!

Ever received spam from any of these domains?

AOL - Topica - Yahoo - Earthlink - Harris Interactive - Tidbits - Microsoft Corp.'s WebTV - Juno - Excedent - Declude - Sunbelt Software - Whitehat

I have personally had my email bounced because Sprint (Earthlink) is my ISP's provider. Not MY provider – my ISP's! Certain filters bounce ANYTHING coming through Sprint at any point up the backbone!

Microsoft is onboard? How serious do you think this is?

The next six are all in Asia. How much spam do you receive from those countries? Ever tried to NAIL a spammer sending from Asia?

Outblaze - Chinadotcom Corp. - Lycos Asia - Mail.com - Telekom Malaysia - Sanrio Corp.

Now, I'm sorry, but I can't help but wonder if some our most notorious spammers aren't simply going to be "allowed" to continue their practices under the protection of the Habeas header. Why? Because they have the MONEY. Make no mistake – this isn't ABOUT stopping spam! Venture capitalists don't invest money just to lose it.

Then, we have: SpamAssassin - Mail-Filters.com - SpamCop - SpamBouncer - JunkSpy - MessageLabs - JunkFilter - Spam Agent - I Hate Spam - Mailshell - JunkProof MAil - Cybersitter - C2S Exchange's Repel - Gwava - Roaring Penguin's Can

It I believe these 13 are all anti-spam activists. This is only surprising based on the other companies involved. I sure would like to know what deals were made with these companies.

These are just the clients and supporters of Habeas, Inc. that I've seen so far. As mentioned – the first ones in!

So far, I only know of two well-known Internet marketers buying the license. But do we really think they won't? This is the opportunity to eliminate many of the little guys and reduce the competition. Isn't this what they've been saying, "Things are getting tougher because there are so many people trying to make a living online now?"

And, by the way, that's a pretty D-U-M thing to say. New online business owners are their biggest customers! Watch their business go DOWN to NOTHING when the little guys are GONE!

I've been busy collecting legal opinions. And yes, IF we are forced, in any way, to use these headers for our email to be delivered, certain laws will be broken. U.S. Federal anti-trust laws do come into play, as well as laws regarding Restraint of Trade and/or Intentional Interference with Business Transactions.

Here are parts of what one lawyer had to say (in casual conversation format) over the course of several emails ...

------------

"What's going on amounts to blackmail, extortion, and 1920s racketeering protection money - just fancied up to look respectable. Only a [deleted] lawyer would classify it as "providing a service." The court won't buy the argument because this new system targets only businesses and businesses must pay or they can't do business on line. I can think of several laws this type activity appears to violate.

Right now the financial incentive hasn't been great enough for small businesses to do anything about it. Small businesses perhaps don't feel they can demonstrate the "pain" of this evolution they're quietly witnessing. Maybe they think it will go away. Perhaps the small fry will start hollering when the price goes up? Then it'll be too late.

Oh, and did you mention that family and friends won't be charged? What a JOKE, at least not initially! Of COURSE, they will be charged! That's Phase II while the business community is sitting there reeling from a court ruling against them because they sat on their hands and let it happen.

They're offering a service you say? So do bank robbers. They make sure the bank's alarm system functions properly. They test police reaction time. And then they test the judicial system to see whether they can get away with it all.

This new system is actually a disservice. They've simply figured out how to charge folks more money to be on the Internet (the same thing the Federal government was too stupid to figure out how to do).

You're probably correct about the timing of any Habeas legal action. So far they really haven't done anything that "requires" people to use them. Damnest thing though, by the time folks will be required to use them, it will be too late."

I have more legal information and the possibility of violations of International Trade laws. However, that information doesn't need to be made public now. As has already been mentioned – until the "squeeze" starts, no laws have been broken.

Our International colleagues are at a particular disadvantage. Many people in places other than the U.S. simply cannot afford to pay more to operate. As it is, some pay $200-$300 a month for Internet access. And, of course, most of us in the USA can't afford extra overhead to do business either.

I contacted Scott Wurtele, at WorldJustice.com. Those of you who read my ezines regularly know that World Justice is the company that was taking the reports and complaints on some of the anti-spam vigilante activities that were interfering with ethical (and NON-spamming) Internet business. World Justice sent those reports to the law firm that was interested in setting up a class action lawsuit - and specializes in class actions - to stop this nonsense.

You also know that I begged for seven months for people to please join the class action suit that was being planned against the filtering companies. Habeas' program is fully based on the fact that the filters are now established!

People need to know what their RIGHTS are! Unfortunately, no one can seem to come up with a clear answer in terms people can understand. The class action suit would have solved all that.

I was labeled "paranoid" and "ignorant of the law." I got nowhere. People, frightened by some "authority's" statements that such a suit would "make spam legal," didn't file their reports.

When I contacted Scott, I gave him all the reference URLs and asked to find out from the law firm if this would help that class action, or if it would be a separate issue. This is the response I received:

Hello jl,

Very interesting information.

Unfortunately, the lawyer who was pursuing this issue is no longer interested.

We do not know of any lawyer at this time who is.

Scott

I wrote back to Scott. I was somewhat surprised at his response since the class action Web page is still online. I mentioned that to him. I also told him that, from the feed-back I've received, people may now be more inclined to stand up and be counted. I asked him if his company would be willing to forward the information to the law firm anyway and ask them to look it over.

Scott replied in the affirmative and stated that he had sent the information. It remains to be seen if it ever receives a response. I'm quite sure they're sick of us.

I realize that a class action lawsuit can take years to litigate! However, during the course of that litigation, activity on the part of the defendant can often be stopped through injunction. It would give us some breathing space.

I'm sure you can imagine how I felt upon hearing that the law firm had lost interest in the original suit. Not that it was a complete surprise. I had been told that might happen due to the infighting, and the inability of online marketers to work together to stop something that was hurting all of us.

It happened just as predicted. So, in the interests of this same childish behavior NOT happening again, please allow me to set three things straight, from a paragraph above.

First, I am not, and never was, "paranoid." I predicted that the filters were just the tip of the iceberg and, clearly, I was correct. I said if we allowed someone to interfere in ethical business – if they got away with it (which they did) - that we could expect even more, and bigger problems down the line.

Secondly, I am not "ignorant of the law." I am not a lawyer, but I did spend 15 years as a corporate reorganizer. I spent a huge part of my time negotiating settlements on lawsuits with the attorneys who were handling suits against my clients (who where trying to stay out of bankruptcy) – and I was very successful. I knew business and collection law better than most attorneys and many of them said so.

How was I able to do that? I was married to a judge at the time. Obviously, he was also an attorney (WHAT was I thinking?). I used his resources to learn what I needed to know. So, I spent many years with both my social and professional life revolving around the legal – and political - arenas. You're bound to learn a few things!

In no way would I presume to say what the laws are regarding interference with online business. But, I DO have sense enough to find out. And I still have resources.

None of this makes me a legal "expert." But, it does make me smart enough not to believe everything I hear – even from an attorney. Especially when I have experience that tells me different. I am far from "ignorant of the law."

Thirdly, a class action suit will NOT "make spam legal." Spam is not ILLEGAL now! Spam doesn't even have a legally and/or universally recognized definition. It is whatever anyone decides it is, based on what they want it to be. Like everything else – no one can agree.

Sure some of the states in the USA have some silly-a** little laws about being able to file suit in small claims courts, and collect some negligible amounts of money from someone who sent you spam. But – they aren't working! Hasn't slowed spam down one bit! All they've done is create a new SCAM.

Yes, AOL just won a huge lawsuit in Virginia against a spammer. But, the spammer was sending porn. I'm betting it was won over unrequested and unwanted porn more than over the normal spam issues.

Even if the U.S. Congress passes anti-spam laws, it'll be a joke! How will that stop spam from other countries? MOST of it doesn't COME from this country!

Now, here's what COULD happen. I believe our current administration in the U.S. is "Big Business" oriented. They may be thrilled to death to see Habeas, Inc. come on the scene. Then, Congress doesn't have to deal with the spam issue at all - Habeas, Inc. can dictate to Internet users the world over - and, once again, Big Business rules!

What WILL happen is that, sooner or later, spam filtering companies, ISPs, web hosts, possibly companies like Habeas, Inc., and even possibly the U.S. government ARE going to be held accountable for interfering with free enterprise and world trade.

The only questions are, how long will it take, and how many small businesses will have already gone belly-up before it happens?

For once, the online community seems to have woken up to the possible – if not probable - dangers of having our email controlled. Several of us who have run articles on Habeas, Inc. have been inundated with email asking what to do.

Lord knows, I'm glad to see everyone awake! But, we also have dangers in going off half-cocked. It isn't smart to do something just to be DOING something. Unfortunate choices and mistakes can be made.

First - what we do NOT need are people putting out incorrect information. This will only create the same situation we had when we attempted to have the ISPs held legally accountable for the extreme spam filters and inappropriate reporting.

If the so-called "experts" can't get their facts right, it will bring about the same childish bickering among Internet marketers that we saw before. This effectively takes all attention away from the actual issue at hand, and turns everyone's attention to the squabbling.

You know the old saying - "Divide and Conquer!" It works every time. THIS time, the Internet community MUST work together.

We cannot afford to have any movement to stop this Habeas situation adulterated by misinformation! So, PLEASE be very CAREFUL what you say or publish.

Next – please be VERY careful what you jump on as a solution. Some people involved in a movement that looked great approached a dear friend of mine. She passed the information along to a number of other people.

This organization is planning to file both a class action, and individual lawsuits due to being blocked by one of the radical anti-spam organizations. I read their information. It looked like this might be something to support. Then, I noticed that they don't even have an attorney to do all this yet.

This organization is called "Freedom's Army" and may be seen at:

http://www.freedomsarmy.org/update.html

I began wondering if there was any possibility that the "harmed" company (The DHS Club) might have been at fault themselves. I went to their web site and read their "Spam Policy." This stated the action(s) they would take against their members (affiliates) for sending spam.

It was written for first, second and third offenses! What? On the THIRD offense, the member would be terminated from the program.

Have any idea how many times an iCop member gets to send spam? ONE legitimate complaint and they're OUT.

This guy was basically allowing each member to spam TWICE with only minimal accountability. The only way he could stop the spam with his company's name in it was to terminate the member immediately. He doesn't terminate until the THIRD offense.

You can read "The DHS Club Spam Policy" here:

http://www.dhs-club.com/spam.html

So, no matter how good his "Freedom's Army" idea may look, do YOU want to be associated with that kind of policy? IF you associate yourself with that particular movement, I can guarantee you will soon be labeled as someone who wants to make spam acceptable. And, I doubt that you are.

So, please do your due diligence before jumping on ANY project to handle the anti-spam situation. Habeas, Inc. IS an anti-spam situation. Check out who is behind the projects. Find out their TRUE reasons. Use common sense.

First - INFORM

At this point, as I've mentioned, Habeas Inc. isn't requiring anyone to use their headers to avoid having their email bounced as spam. This makes it difficult to take action against them. Yet, as also mentioned, if we wait until the squeeze is on, it will be too late.

The first – obvious - thing to do is get people informed. And now IS the time to do THAT. They already have news releases all over the Internet. These releases state NOTHING about the dangers of this "service."

Some people have even written articles singing the praises of the Habeas header. I'm not going to criticize that. I'm simply going to state that, in my opinion, they haven't used their heads. They have only seen it as an obvious solution to the spam filters. On the surface, it is. But, in reality, it poses an even greater threat.

One online marketer has already announced that his sales went back up since he started using the Habeas header. Well yes, isn't it obvious that they would if we can get past the spam filters?

But, THAT is completely short-sighted! Wonder what he'll say when his customers are gone from the 'Net? Wonder what he'll say when the fees go up - and up - and UP! Remember, Habeas, Inc. has already stated that they "may" go up in the future.

BELIEVE THEM!

Okay – what can you do? Send everyone you know – be SURE you have their permission to send them email – to the URL below. There they will find this article and last week's article on Habeas, Inc. from the "Whistle Blower" edition. Put the link in your ezines, if you're a publisher.

I will be happy to post any articles regarding your unwillingness to accept being forced, or put in ANY position where you appear to have to use the Habeas header – or any other pay-to-use header – to get your email delivered. This is providing, of course, that the facts in the article are all correct.

Internet marketers only comprise a small percentage of everyone who uses email. The message must be spread to millions! Those who are not in business online should NEVER swallow that they will always get the header for free. I believe it's only a matter of time before they start paying, too.

Be sure to tell your friends and family, too. As mentioned earlier in this article, non-commercial "licenses" may be free now, but the chances are great that this will change later. The excuse will no doubt be that people forward spam in their private correspondence. They do.

Now yes, visitors are going to get my opinion - and other negative opinions. But apparently, it is shared by MANY. People will see all the positive rhetoric on Habeas, Inc. all over the 'Net. They deserve the chance to see BOTH sides and make their own informed decisions.

The URL to send people to for this information is:

http://www.i-Cop.org/habeas/part1.htm

Second - COMPLAIN

It was suggested to me that folks in the USA be advised to write to Washington, D.C. At first, I didn't see that this could be of any help at this time. However, even though this is not a government matter yet, it was pointed out to me that public officials could be used as a place to document the complaints, awareness, etc. They won't do anything initially, but won't be able to claim ignorance later.

William B. Doyle is the author of the "Hard Target" ebook series. These ebooks teach how to protect yourself from terrorists and criminals. Bill's experience in law enforcement, physical security and anti-terrorism makes him an expert on the subject. Good set of ebooks to have, by the way - http://www.hard-target.net

Bill has put together a web page, which lists all the contact information of the White House, U.S. House of Representatives, Senators of 108th Congress, State Governors, and State Legislators. It's easy to use – just click and go. Everything is right there, and it's free to use.

http://www.wbdoyle.com/contactusgov.html

Interestingly, one of our Canadian readers also made this suggestion. She mentioned that, since the USA has such a great impact on all world commerce, it would be good for people all over the world to write to Washington.

You know what? She's right! GO for it! Send your complaints on this matter straight to the White House if you are outside the USA.

The email addresses are on the page. If you are in the USA, send to every address associated with where you live - from State Legislators and Governor through members of the U.S. Congress, straight to the White House.

I'm SURE I don't need to remind you to be VERY professional in your messages. Please do not appear hysterical or fanatical – keep it clean – and do not mail bomb.

* You can be adamant about expecting your rights to free enterprise to be upheld without interference.

* You can insist that private companies have no right to pressure you - in any way - into paying their "licensing fees" to send email on the public Internet.

* You can state your expectation that the lawmakers act to stop it before any private company takes control of public email.

While you're at it ...

* You can object to private companies – including filtering companies, web hosts and ISPs - deciding what email you can send or receive based on their OWN criteria. Be sure to state that you do NOT send spam.

* And, if your business is being affected – SAY SO!

To be SURE the complaints are taken seriously, make a copy of the message in your email and send it by postal mail to the physical addresses on the page.

Third - TAKE ACTION

This one is obvious. We can immediately STOP using the services of any company joining the Habeas parade! Do it fast enough, and often enough, and they will get the picture that it will lose them customers.

Of course, we also need to tell them why we are canceling - in no uncertain terms.

I know that's a PITA to have to do. But, it isn't that tough. I can pick up the telephone, have a new ISP, get set-up and be back online within 10 minutes. It's the only thing they'll understand. If we wait to do it, too many of them will have joined Habeas, Inc. - and it will be TOO LATE!

I plan to build an entire section on the web site for people to find information, opinions and help. It will be ready by this Thursday. Then, I'll send all WB subscribers a link to the index page.

I will be replying (again) to everyone who sent me email on this topic. I'll use the reply function so you can see exactly what you wrote. I'm going to ask your permission to post your comments on the web pages where I'll be posting these articles.

IF you give me your permission, I will also want to post your full name, your city, state or province and country.

I will post your URL, with a link opening a new window, if you wish me to do that, provided you post a link to the page on your own Web site.

I will NOT post your email address!

The pages will also have an email link where visitors can send me an email if they agree with the position against allowing a private company to charge licensing fees to send public email.

The email MUST contain the sender's full name and address. These will be compiled into a petition to use wherever it may be helpful later.

Any email received that looks questionable as to the sender will be reported to the sending IP number's Service Provider.

When you receive the announcement of the site information - please publish the link and send it to everyone you have permission to email. Ask them to participate!

Last year, I fought the good fight against the spam filters to the point of it hurting my own businesses. And lost. I'm not inclined to do that again. Not even for the greater good!

Now, just when I'm swearing that I'm going to rest - and do other things - comes Habeas! We ALL need to work together. We have MILLIONS of people to inform.

I have NO interest in being the only leader of the cause to keep private industry from taking control of email - nor, of dictating how we run our business based on THEIR rules.

Last time, we had three factions of online business owners ...

* The ones who wanted all the glory - when there IS no glory in this

* The ones who wanted to be the "experts" about why the filters shouldn't be dealt with in the courts, thus losing our chance to avoid what we have now

* The ones who did nothing and, in fact, buried their heads, pretending it wasn't happening - hoping it would go away

Because of that, we lost the spam filter war. And THAT brought us Habeas, Inc.!

THIS time - we need LOTS of leaders! And LOTS of pro-ACTIVE people! PLEASE - do everything you CAN to help! We can link every Web page and give people LOTS of important information!

Again, please watch for a notice from me next Friday. It will give you the link for the information pages. If you have comments you would like for me to post - please send them right away.

If you are reading this and wish to subscribe so you will receive the notice, just Click Here to send a blank email.

Copyright © 2003, jl scott, ph.d., all rights reserved. This article may be republished with the following resource box:

Habeas, The New Mafia?
Pay $499 (was $200) a year for Business Email
Filter This!!! (Please Read!)
Habeas has filed lawsuit against some BIG names in marketing

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