They're taking direct action - to block spam and porn from their systems, to speed up warnings about viruses and to blow the whistle on privacy violators. That kind of direct action isn't a new idea, and it's not confined to the Internet. What the law can't or won't handle, these groups step in to do. Yes, membership is voluntary, and the members are only protecting their rights. So polling firm Harris Interactive is suing MAPS for blocking its mass e-mails.
More lawsuits are inevitable.
Eventually, the conflict between the right to send mass e-mail and the right to block it will be hashed out in courts and legislatures. But until then, it's all happening outside the law. Which brings us back to EVAC, a loose coalition formed a few months ago by a handful of British e-mail administrators who wanted faster warnings of virus outbreaks and were willing to work outside their companies to get them, according to BBC News. With bad virus outbreaks, minutes and even seconds matter. EVAC's members are trying to get that little extra jump that will make a difference.