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{{Short description|Facetious conspiracy theory popularized on USENET}}
The '''Lumber Cartel''' was a ], first promulgated either by ] himself, or by one of his employees, and subsequently popularized on ], that was alleged to back ]mers.
{{distinguish|Timber mafia}}


The '''Lumber Cartel''' was a facetious ] popularized on ] that claimed ]mers were secretly paid agents of lumber companies.<ref name="Goodman">{{cite book
⚫ In November of 1997, a participant on ] discovered an essay on Wallace's corporate website, and to the newsgroup. The essay described a ]:
|url=https://archive.org/details/spamwars00dann
|url-access=registration
|page=
|quote=lumber.cartel spam.
|title=Spam Wars: Our Last Best Chance to Defeat Spammers, Scammers, and Hackers
|author=Danny Goodman
|author-link=Danny Goodman
|year=2004
|publisher=SelectBooks
|isbn=1-59079-063-4}}</ref>


⚫ In November 1997, a participant on ] posted an essay to the newsgroup. The essay described a ]:
⚫ {{cquote|The original anti-spammer was in truth a major spammer just one day before two major lumber companies deposited a total of $275,000 into his account. He instantly stopped spamming and began what is now the biggest anti-spam ring on the Internet.}}


⚫ {{cquote|The original anti-spammer was in truth a major spammer just one day before two major lumber companies deposited a total of $275,000 into his account. He instantly stopped spamming and began what is now the biggest anti-spam ring on the Internet.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://groups.google.com/group/news.admin.net-abuse.email/msg/387e586f6dd859ca| date=Nov 14, 1997| title=Possible Anti-Spam Conspiracy Uncovered| author=Vladimir| accessdate=2006-07-11| publisher=Google Groups| work= news.admin.net-abuse.email}}</ref>}}
⚫ The reasoning was that these companies first destroy forests and make ] out of them, which is in turn used to send ]. Since sending ] doesn't use paper at all, the essay argued, the lumber companies would want to stop it before it would surpass paper-based bulk mailing, and consequently only those in the pay of the lumber companies would be anti-spam.


⚫ The reasoning provided in the essay was that certain companies first destroy forests and make ] out of them, which is in turn used to send ]. Since sending ] does not use paper at all, the essay argued, the lumber companies would want to stop it before it would surpass paper-based bulk mailing, and consequently only those in the pay of the lumber companies would be anti-spam.
Anti-spammers, of course, were quick to point out that this reasoning is far from the truth. There are many reasons why e-mail spam was, and continues to be, a threat to the Internet, and why people continue to fight spam either in their spare time or professionally. In addition, in recent decades only ] ] (which is used to print ]) is being made out of ] (which is, also, very far from ]), other fine papers (like the kind used to print glossy advertisements and brochures) are made out of cotton rags. It is thus unlikely that the any lumber or tree-harvesting industry would benefit from any change from junk mailing. Furthermore, lumber companies themselves have little to do with paper companies, and bulk mail constitutes only a small part of total paper use.


The rationale was based in ]s in certain spam messages that they were using electronic means in order to save paper. The joke eventually led to a club and numerous ] websites, most of which have long since disappeared.<ref>{{cite book
⚫ Gatherings of anti-spammers on Usenet began to ridicule proponents of this theory, and many participants in ] chose to dub themselves as members of "the Lumber Cartel" in their ]s, followed immediately by the acronymic disclaimer "TINLC" (There Is No Lumber Cartel), reminiscent of the ] catchphrase.
|url=https://archive.org/details/spamkingsrealsto00mcwi
|url-access=registration
|page=
|quote=lumber.cartel spam.
|title=Spam Kings: The Real Story behind the High-Rolling Hucksters Pushing Porn, Pills, and %*@)# Enlargements
|author=Brian S. McWilliams
|year=2005
|publisher=]
|isbn=0-596-00732-9}}</ref>


⚫ Gatherings of anti-spammers on Usenet began to ridicule proponents of this theory, and many participants in ] chose to dub themselves as members of "the Lumber Cartel" in their ]s, followed immediately by the acronymic disclaimer "TinLC" (There is no Lumber Cartel), reminiscent of the ] catchphrase.<ref name="Goodman"/> People were able to register with a website about the '''Lumber Cartel''' and were given a sequential membership number. That was added to email sig files in ] and used on personal websites. There was no verification or requirement to receive the membership number.
⚫ ==References and external links==
*
* "" () - article posted by "Vladimir" to news.admin.net-abuse.email on 1997-11-14
* Web site of "The Lumber Cartel"; available through The Internet Archive.
⚫ * The ]: ""
*] in ]'s ]
*


==See also==
===Web sites dedicated to the Lumber Cartel===
*]
⚫ *

* ()
⚫ ==References==
⚫ *
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*
⚫ *
⚫ *
*{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*
⚫ * The ]: ""
*
* at ]
*
*
*
*


] ]
] ]
⚫ ]
] ]
] ]
]
⚫ ]
]

Latest revision as of 17:45, 7 October 2024

Facetious conspiracy theory popularized on USENET Not to be confused with Timber mafia.

The Lumber Cartel was a facetious conspiracy theory popularized on USENET that claimed anti-spammers were secretly paid agents of lumber companies.

In November 1997, a participant on news.admin.net-abuse.email posted an essay to the newsgroup. The essay described a conspiracy theory:

The original anti-spammer was in truth a major spammer just one day before two major lumber companies deposited a total of $275,000 into his account. He instantly stopped spamming and began what is now the biggest anti-spam ring on the Internet.

The reasoning provided in the essay was that certain companies first destroy forests and make paper out of them, which is in turn used to send bulk mail. Since sending e-mail spam does not use paper at all, the essay argued, the lumber companies would want to stop it before it would surpass paper-based bulk mailing, and consequently only those in the pay of the lumber companies would be anti-spam.

The rationale was based in disclaimers in certain spam messages that they were using electronic means in order to save paper. The joke eventually led to a club and numerous parody websites, most of which have long since disappeared.

Gatherings of anti-spammers on Usenet began to ridicule proponents of this theory, and many participants in news.admin.net-abuse.email chose to dub themselves as members of "the Lumber Cartel" in their signatures, followed immediately by the acronymic disclaimer "TinLC" (There is no Lumber Cartel), reminiscent of the There Is No Cabal catchphrase. People were able to register with a website about the Lumber Cartel and were given a sequential membership number. That was added to email sig files in news.admin.net-abuse.email and used on personal websites. There was no verification or requirement to receive the membership number.

See also

References

  1. ^ Danny Goodman (2004). Spam Wars: Our Last Best Chance to Defeat Spammers, Scammers, and Hackers. SelectBooks. p. 109. ISBN 1-59079-063-4. lumber.cartel spam.
  2. Vladimir (Nov 14, 1997). "Possible Anti-Spam Conspiracy Uncovered". news.admin.net-abuse.email. Google Groups. Retrieved 2006-07-11.
  3. Brian S. McWilliams (2005). Spam Kings: The Real Story behind the High-Rolling Hucksters Pushing Porn, Pills, and %*@)# Enlargements. O'Reilly Media. p. 35. ISBN 0-596-00732-9. lumber.cartel spam.

External links

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