On Mon, 3 Oct 1994 16:15:29 -0400 you said:
>A quote of P.T. Barnum's comes to mind :-)
>
>>USAGREENCARD via [log in to unmask]
>>
>>   The law office of Mark Carmel, Attorney at Law, is now hosting a new
>>   mailing list on the topic of U.S.A. Immigration Law.
 
   Since I'm the NEW-LIST editor I seem to be the object of this statement.
I don't take the responsibilities lightly but I have always stated that I
will try very hard not to censor the announcement of new lists because of
their content.  (Well, I did recently reject one called  Sh** List but I
am not sure that was legitimate anyway - it came from usenet news which is
seldom legitimate! ;-).
 
   Anyway, some folks seem to associate the USAGREENCARD list with the
spamming of Canter & Siegel on the Green Card lottery last spring.  I found
only two similarities:  The content of the list was similar to the SOLICITATION
of Canter & Siegel.  Also, Mark had sent the announcement to 40-50 news
groups (according to other sources) before he realized that was a waste of
time and he should send it to NEW-LIST instead.  He claimed to have only had
a computer for three weeks and admitted his error.  Actually, one person
thought this was Canter because Carmel sounded similar...  But Mark is in
New York and Canter & Siegel in the SouthWest US.
 
   Now, for all I know this could be an attempt to solicit business.  But
it could also be exactly what it says - a list to discuss immigration law.
Or it might be something in between - like the "Ask a Professional" pages
in the newspaper which are Q&A's on various topics answered by professionals
such as medical doctors, optometrists, etc.  They answer the questions but
the affiliation is clearly displayed.
 
   I think we have to be very careful not to fall into the trap of
guilt by association (ie. all immigration lawyers or lawyers must be
crooks).  After all, we use computer networks so we must all be
malevolent hackers like Robert Morris Jr. (sp?) right?  ;-)
 
        Marty       NEW-LIST Editor/Owner
 
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