Not that I believe in caning spammers, mind you, at least not in the literal sense (if we’re talking figuratively, hell, no punishment is too harsh).
But caning is considered a perfectly acceptable form of corporal punishment in Singapore — you can read about it here on Wikipedia’s “Caning in Singapore” page. And you may remember the 1994 case of Michael Fay, an American teenager living in Singapore who was arrested for vandalism, tried, convicted … and caned. At the time it was a genuine international incident — cries of outrage from all corners of the globe — but none of that spared Fay the rod.
So it seems just a touch odd that next week Singapore will for the first time invoke its Spam Control Act with nary a mention of caning among the consequences for violators. From the story:
Under the Act, marketers based in Singapore convicted of spamming can be fined up to one million Singapore dollars (657,000 US), the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts said in a statement.
“The Act will offer a framework to better manage unsolicited commercial electronic messages sent in bulk, otherwise known as spam,” the ministry said.
That $657,000 fine is nothing to sneeze at, of course. But where’s the jail time. And, in the name of Michael Fay, where’s the caning?
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t even believe in spanking children and haven’t hit anyone for any reason since whacking a guy’s fist with my upper lip during a brawl at a football game 30 years ago. I’m a non-violent sort.
But we’re talking spammers in Singapore here. From the Wikipedia article on caning in that country:
The subject to be caned is strapped in a bending-over position to a metal or wooden frame. The punishment is delivered to the bare buttocks, the number of strokes being specified in the court’s sentence. The rattan cane is 1.2 metres long and 1.3 cm thick (Prison Regulations 132(2)), i.e. considerably bigger and heavier than a school cane. The cane is soaked in water beforehand to prevent it from splitting and make it more flexible; the Prisons Department denies that the cane is soaked in brine, but notes that the cane is treated with antiseptic before use. Parts of the prisoner’s body are padded to prevent accidental damaging of the kidneys and the genitals. Permanent scarring of the buttocks can occur in the case of a large number of strokes.
Now doesn’t that seem about right for a spammer? I mean if you believe in that sort of thing? And you live in a country where it’s considered perfectly civilized?
