Does anybody remember when the original warriorforum was an email spammer's forum?

40 replies
Yup, 'tis true; mid to late 90s

I don't know how many old-timers are still around. And back when we had host4profit and listwarrior.
#email #forum #original #remember #spammer #warriorforum
  • Profile picture of the author Jonathan Mizel
    Hell yeah! Myers even had me shut down once. Or was it twice?
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    • Profile picture of the author scubasteve-cr
      Originally Posted by Jonathan Mizel View Post

      Hell yeah! Myers even had me shut down once. Or was it twice?
      lol, yah i can remember reading myers' posts detesting spam - i tried to find the original warriorforum on wayback machine, but it wasnt showing up. the design was so much different back then.
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      • Profile picture of the author bobby_shahzad
        Originally Posted by scubasteve-cr View Post

        lol, yah i can remember reading myers' posts detesting spam - i tried to find the original warriorforum on wayback machine, but it wasnt showing up. the design was so much different back then.
        Waybackmachine shows you nothing older than 1999. It was archiving before that
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  • Profile picture of the author hikamendoz
    well.......interesting to know that. I think this phase comes in lifecycle of every forum......and only those who are around know what it has taken them to be at place where they are now.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
    Jonathan,
    Hell yeah! Myers even had me shut down once. Or was it twice?
    I don't remember. I was busy with a lot of that back then. But hey... It was nothing personal.

    Chris,
    Or that is was a spammers hangout to trade ideas??
    This. Getting rid of that was the main reason Allen wanted someone to help moderate the board. Took 6 months to finally get the message through that this was no longer going to be a useful place for spammers to do business.

    You'd be surprised at who was involved in bulking back then.


    Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Mayo
    Um talking about the old Uni-Sol days are we...lol

    If I remember correctly that was a touchy subject for many of the original members.

    Have a Great Day!
    Michael
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Michael,
      If I remember correctly that was a touchy subject for many of the original members.
      Ummm... Yeah. You could say that.


      Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Mayo
    Paul, Wasn't the very first version of the WF called the Vault?

    ~MM~
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Michael,
      Wasn't the very first version of the WF called the Vault?
      Not as I recall it. There was a separate section that contained a lot of downloadable products included in the membership. That may have had a different name at some point. But the forum was always just the forum.


      Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Mayo
    If I remember correctly, The archives were removed back in 2007/08.
    There was some interesting threads on email marketing, Mail order and
    even talk about auto responders dating back to 1996/97.

    There were a couple of people that had auto responder services but I
    believe it was Allen Says that had the first stand alone auto responder
    script created for people to use on their sites.

    Correct me if I'm wrong Allen. I getting older and my memory isn't what it
    used to be.

    Have a Great Day!
    Michael
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    • Profile picture of the author scubasteve-cr
      Originally Posted by Michael Mayo View Post

      If I remember correctly, The archives were remover back in 2007/08.
      There was some interesting threads on email marketing, Mail order and
      even talk about auto responders dating back to 1996/97.

      There were a couple of people that had auto responder services but I
      believe it was Allen Says that had the first stand alone auto responder
      script created for people to use on their sites.

      Correct me if I'm wrong Allen. I getting older and my memory isn't what it
      used to be.

      Have a Great Day!
      Michael
      Same here, my memory definitely isn't what it used to be. I can just remember it being a forum for email spammers to hang out and exchange ideas, etc. I think it had a different domain name even, but I'm not positive. I did get my start in IM in email spamming (I know, put me in the gallows!), but haven't done any of that for at least 10 years now. Man, time flies! There was even a pretty popular competing forum for the same industry called the bulkbarn, run by some guy named Tim out of canada.

      WarriorForum has definitely come a long way!
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
    Steve,

    It was never intended to be a spammer's forum. The problem was that spammers back then did their best to dominate any market that would let them in. The big draw to the WF, as opposed to the dedicated bulker boards, was that a lot of people came in to the Warriors who hadn't already gotten started online. The bulker suppliers (lists, software, and hosting) figured they could recruit new customers if they could convince newbies that spam was a legitimate way to make money.

    It worked. That's why they fought so hard to stay. Not because there weren't other forums where they could discuss their business. Hell, there was one just a directory over on the Uni-Sol site. Charlie Brown's old board.

    Yeah. Things have changed a lot over the years. Not the arguments so much, though. I still hear the same rationalizations from blog and forum spammers that I heard back then from the email spammers. And people who aren't allowed to break the rules still scream that it's a free speech issue. (Help. Help. I'm being oppressed!) Apparently, civics hasn't been a required course in grade school for a long time now.


    Paul
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    • Profile picture of the author scubasteve-cr
      Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

      It worked. That's why they fought so hard to stay. Not because there weren't other forums where they could discuss their business. Hell, there was one just a directory over on the Uni-Sol site. Charlie Brown's old board.

      Yeah. Things have changed a lot over the years. Not the arguments so much, though. I still hear the same rationalizations from blog and forum spammers that I heard back then from the email spammers. And people who aren't allowed to break the rules still scream that it's a free speech issue. (Help. Help. I'm being oppressed!) Apparently, civics hasn't been a required course in grade school for a long time now.

      Paul
      Charlie Brown - wow. There's a blast from the past.

      And yah, I definitely agree on the blog/forum spammers comment. I read it in forums all the time, and people don't realize that they are doing the exact same things that the email spammers did - helping to completely destroy an infrastructure that just ruins things for everybody
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      • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
        Steve,
        Charlie Brown - wow. There's a blast from the past.
        No doubt. He, Jonathan and a few others were able to maintain a classy way of communicating that most folks with histories of spamming at the time seemed unable to even comprehend.

        I hated his business model, but I admired his personal style. I've often wondered what he's up to these days.


        Paul
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        • Profile picture of the author scubasteve-cr
          Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

          Steve,No doubt. He, Jonathan and a few others were able to maintain a classy way of communicating that most folks with histories of spamming at the time seemed unable to even comprehend.

          I hated his business model, but I admired his personal style. I've often wondered what he's up to these days.

          Paul
          Charlie sold me my first list. Wallace with his CyberPromo company. Scott Richter (now owner of a popular CPA network) back when he was just a regular email spammer. Merlin. Super Joe. The Lightspeed Marketing guy that I think I read he got sent to jail.

          WF has definitely changed. I wonder how many people doing IM back in the mid 90s are still doing it now, or have retired, moved on, or given up? I still love IM. I love it even more now that I don't have to worry about waking up and finding hosting is gone, again.
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  • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
    Funny really - because that was back when we had to pay to join the forum (once you found out how and where to pay). Now it's free and people still bitch that they're being oppressed when they try to spam the forum with their offers.
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    nothing to see here.

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  • Profile picture of the author Mou
    As far as i remember there was something called 'vau't or 'warriorplus' with downloadable goodies. Also the homepage of the domain 'warrirorforum.com' used to host some image and one had to add a 'forum' after the domain name to access the actual forum
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
    What you're calling the vault was actually called the "Private Site," if I recall correctly. Quite a little treasure trove for the time.


    Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Mayo
    Paul,
    I started digging through my old WF Notes and found this...lol

    FYI:



    Have a Great Day!
    Michael
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
    [ahem] I sit corrected.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Mayo
    LOL...Threads about the WF History always seem to die a sudden death.

    It kinda tells the story all by it's self.

    Have a Great Day!
    Michael
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    Wow. This thread is very revealing. I remember having some heated debates with Mr. Myers on Tony Blake's forum in 02, 03 about Spamming. Turned out our definitions of the deed were quite different. Paul once called me a "Spam Apologist." I still bear the scars...
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      I still bear the scars...
      Come on. I wasn't THAT bad.

      Well, okay. Maybe I was back then.


      Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author Kevin Williams
    This thread makes me feel like I missed a chuck of history. I find it interesting that so many of the original members have either become gurus or disappeared completely...
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    • Profile picture of the author new guy
      Hehe, made some good money sending spam back in the day...
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    Wow Paul, you been around that long?
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      John,
      Wow Paul, you been around that long?
      Ummm... Yeah. And then a bit.

      First moderating experience was in March of 87. Pissed off my first spammer in 88 or 89, I think. Fidonet. Dude was pushing MLM in a non-sports trading card echo.


      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

        John,Ummm... Yeah. And then a bit.

        First moderating experience was in March of 87. Pissed off my first spammer in 88 or 89, I think. Fidonet. Dude was pushing MLM in a non-sports trading card echo.


        Paul
        Jesus, 87?

        Think I was still breakdancing back then
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        • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
          John,
          Jesus, 87?
          Great concert.
          Think I was still breakdancing back then
          There are people in this group who've got a decade or more on me. This isn't new stuff...


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          • Profile picture of the author MisterE
            I only have bad memories..... Banned twice for saying what I believed.

            Fast forward to the present.... Now they're good memories
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            • Profile picture of the author MisterE
              I don't mean to take away from the OPs original post, but, since there's some reminiscing a 'happenin, does anyone remember that the go to marketing forum was Phil Wiley's, the original Micro Niche Master (my opinion only), and Cory Rudl, when he was with us,.... was the master of authority sites...... I still have... Somewhere, a Jaguar hood ornament that I bought as a token of my appreciation.....Damn I feel old.
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              • Profile picture of the author Eric Louviere
                I actually remember, when first getting on the WF years ago, being a bit on the *scared side* to even post on the WF. Some of you snapperheads were/are brutal on folks. lol

                [I aint scared anymore!]



                ~Eric
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                • Profile picture of the author ThomM
                  Originally Posted by Eric Louviere View Post

                  I actually remember, when first getting on the WF years ago, being a bit on the *scared side* to even post on the WF. Some of you snapperheads were/are brutal on folks. lol

                  [I aint scared anymore!]



                  ~Eric
                  Same here
                  But I also noticed if I kept my mouth shut and read the threads that there was some real cutting edge discussions going on. Problem is/was I can never keep my damn mouth shut.
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      • Profile picture of the author weblink29
        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

        John,Ummm... Yeah. And then a bit.

        First moderating experience was in March of 87. Pissed off my first spammer in 88 or 89, I think. Fidonet. Dude was pushing MLM in a non-sports trading card echo.


        Paul
        Fidonet....I remember using that. It took a week to get a reply to an email Your message had to travel from BBS to BBS until it reached it's destination. I was making websites back then without a graphical web browser. You had to download the website images via modem to your computer and open them on your computer to view them. I had an Amiga 500 back then.

        Those were the days :rolleyes:
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  • Profile picture of the author arijitdas
    During 90's, i think spammers had weekly party over WarriorForum... lol!
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  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Dickens
    Bulk Mail is not always synonymous with "spam"

    granted, some bulking is spam, but if done properly it is not spam, by definition.
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Joseph,
      Bulk Mail is not always synonymous with "spam"
      For purposes of moderating this forum, the working definition of spam, as it relates to email, is simple: Unsolicited bulk email.

      Anyone who wishes to debate other definitions for other contexts can do so, but keep in mind that endorsing, promoting, or facilitating the sending of UBE in or through this forum is grounds for immediate banning.

      That's not directed at you personally. Just a general reminder that seemed appropriate at the moment.


      Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    I've mentioned before some of the people that were here when I joined,with Teresa King being the main one,as she is the one that directed me to the WF in the 1st place,and yes it was a membership site back then. As mentioned before, it also had a boatload of downloads on a place called the private site,which may or may not still be up. I know a couple years back it still was.Thinking about it always makes me smile.
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  • Profile picture of the author David Hooper
    I think "The Vault" was a package of ebooks and other IM-related goodies, one of which was access to the Warrior Forum. That's how I first got access here.
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