I don't think the $50-100 fee is the right approach. First off, legally
you can't charge the card without the owner's consent. So, the only way
you can put the charge in is if you explicitly mention this in your sign
up banner and require the free trial user to agree to these terms. This
is guaranteed to scare a lot of non-spammers, especially if the
description is vague. Then if the description is more detailed, you'll be
burying the huge majority of non-spammers into details they really don't
need to see or understand, and they might conclude that AOL is a place
where you meet bad people. Besides, in a best case scenario this adds
$50-100 to the material costs of the spam. I might stop KK, but it won't
stop people who post spams for a fee; they'll just add the $100 to their
costs, and it will still be ultra cheap.
All you need to do is add a warning saying that any usage of the AOL
account for illegal activities or for spamming will be prosecuted to the
fullest extent of the law. This won't surprise or shock honest customers,
in fact it might even be good PR. Above all, it has the potential of
costing the spammer a lot more than $100, and you can still decide not to
sue if you don't want to. I also think that if you sued KK, the other
spammers would think twice before acting.
Eric
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