In 2005, computer scientists Eddie Kohler and David Mazières wrote a paper titled “Get me off Your Fucking Mailing List” and submitted it to the World Multi-conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics. The text of the ten-page paper consisted entirely of the phrase “get me off your fucking mailing list”, repeated over and over:
Also included in the document were a couple of helpful diagrams:
Kohler and Mazières submitted their article as a joke, but also as a protest against WMSCI’s spamming activity and their notoriously lax standards for paper acceptance.
Nine years later…
Australian computer scientist Peter Vamplew was annoyed that the pseudo-academic, non-peer reviewed publication, International Journal of Advanced Computer Technology, wouldn’t stop spamming his email account. So, in 2014, he sent the previously mentioned “Get me off Your Fucking Mailing List” paper to the journal, expecting the editors to “read it, ignore it, and at best take me off their mailing list”. That’s not what happened.
Instead, Vamplew was notified by IJACT that his paper was accepted for publication. The computer scientist was told he only needed to "add some more recent references and do a bit of reformatting", but otherwise, “its suitability for the journal was excellent.” Vamplew said, “I pretty much fell off my chair” after receiving the message.
The journal required payment of a $150 fee to have the paper published. Vamplew declined to pay the fee.
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@Rutterman I was an email admin and I really didn't like spam. I also knew if I sent them a 40 meg attachment it would choke and kill their mail gateway. 10 megs was big enough but I went with 40 megs just to let them know I was pissed.
@Steve42 Oh, I see. Your situation didn't specifically involve bogus academic publications. But I applaud what you did, regardless. Anything that messes with spammers is a good thing. 👍
