[eep]

Crap I didn't mean to start a new thread.

Anyway I hear people complain about spam, but what about all the snail mail advertisements and credit card applications that come in the mail?
E-mail span is annoying but you can simply delete it. With the credit card mail I have to sit there a shred it.

I know the USPS depends on them for money which is why it will never stop. But is there anything that can be done? Maybe a Do Not Mail list?

I know lamest topic ever!

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

They have a do not mail list here in Canada so I am sure they have one in the US.

[tooki]

You can't stop junk mail with a simple list.

But unlike email, where it is the recipient who foots most of the bill for each message, postal junk mail is paid for entirely by the sender. Thanks to junk mail, a first-class stamp costs 37¢ and not 97¢. The postal service here is, effectively, heavily subsidized by junk mail.

Since the junk mail saves me money, I'm OK with it, just as I am OK with TV commercials, since otherwise, my cable bill would be massively higher.

tooki

[Kilbey]

If my junk mail comes with a postage paid envelope I mail it back to them empty. It helps out the postal workers and the offending company loses a few cents in the process. Everyone wins!

[macaddict0001]

I like to introduce spammers to other spammers, by sending the number of a spammer to another spammer.

[Kilbey]

Originally posted by macaddict0001:
I like to introduce spammers to other spammers, by sending the number of a spammer to another spammer.

But what do you do about snail mail spam?

[Mastrap]

Originally posted by macaddict0001:
I like to introduce spammers to other spammers, by sending the number of a spammer to another spammer.

You know that 99.9% of all spam return addresses are spoofed, right?

[storer]

Haven't got snail mail spam for many years, except for readers digest, but hey, my mother says thats not junk mail.

[Cubeoid]

Originally posted by eep:

I know lamest topic ever!

Ahh.. the innocence of a Lounge youth.

[macaddict0001]

Originally posted by Mastrap:
You know that 99.9% of all spam return addresses are spoofed, right?

Originally posted by Kilbey:
But what do you do about snail mail spam?

hey I got a toilet and a fireplace don't I?

[DigitalEl]

I don't think this is a lame topic at all. I can't stand all the credit card bullsh!t that comes in the real mail every day. With e-mail spam, you set up a filter, are careful with your e-mail address or simply delete it and everything's cool. With real mail, the onus is on you to get rid of it. You have to buy a shredder to chop the stuff. You have to go through it all to make sure you don't throw away your rebate check from TiVo by accident (did that!). And if you don't, the punk renter who runs the meth lab two streets over will steal your identity and get credit cards in your name.

I did the send the credit card companies back empty envelopes thing for awhile... But it never seemed to catch on, so I don't bother... But it is a genuine pain every day when four or five of these things come in. If you don't get your mail every day, it clogs your box and your Macworld magazine gets all folded and squeezed.

Spam is not half the P in the A real mail is every day.

If there was a Do Not Mail list, I'd be on it first! Like the original poster said, though, the USPS makes a sh!tload of money off this stuff, so it's never gonna go away. If lawmakers *really* looked out for us and not just financial interests, this would be a real concern, what with identity theft and all.

[Kenneth]

I don't mind getting snail junk mail, but I want them to save some trees.

[eep]

Originally posted by DigitalEl:
I don't think this is a lame topic at all. I can't stand all the credit card bullsh!t that comes in the real mail every day. With e-mail spam, you set up a filter, are careful with your e-mail address or simply delete it and everything's cool. With real mail, the onus is on you to get rid of it. You have to buy a shredder to chop the stuff. You have to go through it all to make sure you don't throw away your rebate check from TiVo by accident (did that!). And if you don't, the punk renter who runs the meth lab two streets over will steal your identity and get credit cards in your name.

I did the send the credit card companies back empty envelopes thing for awhile... But it never seemed to catch on, so I don't bother... But it is a genuine pain every day when four or five of these things come in. If you don't get your mail every day, it clogs your box and your Macworld magazine gets all folded and squeezed.

Spam is not half the P in the A real mail is every day.

If there was a Do Not Mail list, I'd be on it first! Like the original poster said, though, the USPS makes a sh!tload of money off this stuff, so it's never gonna go away. If lawmakers *really* looked out for us and not just financial interests, this would be a real concern, what with identity theft and all.

Exactly, it'ss just a pain to have to shed all this crap I get and the security risk. My wife's parents are afraid to shop online but have no problem getting all the junk mail that can be taken out of their mailbox while they are at work.

It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer tries to get the post office to stop delivering mail to him. Very funny.

Anyway I'm a stupid dreamer if I think this will ever stop. But at least my phone stopped ringing with the Do Not Call List. So +1 for me so far.

[Dr. Wahnsinn]

Yeah, what Tooki said! Except for the issue of what a stamp would cost should junk mail be restricted - it would be much higher than 97¢.

If one really doesn't want junk mail, things to avoid are: bank accounts, credit cards, loans (how many can afford to purchase a new car with cash?), home ownership, and street addresses. Now, if you can do that, there is a free shopping cart awaiting you at your local grocery store.