Harry Potter Spam

[Elizabeth Dalton]

I am now receiving Harry Potter related spam (unsolicited email advertising) for
the first time. (I've been receiving other spam for years.) The HP spam started
showing up shortly after my first post to the Movie list. I had posted to
HPforGrownups previously, with no spam. This suggests to me that someone on this
list is harvesting digests for the purposes of spamming. Are others receiving
this spam also?

The membership of this list is currently open (as is the book list, for that
matter), which means no attempt is made to screen members. On some lists I'm on,
members have to fill out a short questionnaire, for example, which hopefully
deters spammers at least slightly. (Though I can imagine trying to keep up with
new membership applications on a list the size of either of these is a pain, and
it is, of course, impossible to truly verify each member once you get beyond a
dozen or so.)

For the record, I'd like to make it clear that I will *never* knowingly buy any
service or product from anyone who sends spam advertisements. In the past I have
gone so far as to publically blacklist spammers when asked for vendor
recommendations by others. (Amazon was on my blacklist for a long time, until
they stopped spamming.) I also use spam-trapping software which does report
repeat offenders to their ISPs and I actively campaign for spammers to be denied
access to ISP services. In short, I am not a safe mark. 

Not that I expect any spammers to read this, or care. :(

Elizabeth
(...who puts spammers and Death Eaters in roughly the same equivalence class. Or
couldn't you tell?)