The revolution is on! Christina has set up her blog.
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So typically Mauritian!
I’m reading David Elleray’s autobiography right now. Quoting this book’s introduction, David Elleray was, until his retirement at the end of the 2003-2003 [football i.e. soccer] season Britain’s best-known and highest profile referee.
On page 145, he writes about a South-Africa versus Brazil friendly that he was refereeing. I quote:
I arrived at Jo’burg Airport to a carnival atmosphere as the Brazilian team had just arrived and the terminal was alive with dancing and singing children, and a plethora of media representatives. This was clearly a special match for South Africa who were still on a high, having won the African Cup of Nations on home soil, and they were relishing playing the World Cup holders.
I was greeted royally and then whisked off to some TV interviews. My host was Ari Soldatos, a FIFA linesman who later officiated in the 1998 World Cup finals. My assistants were from Angola and Mauritius. The former spoke only Portugese and the latter spoke English and French so, as in Japan, communication was not easy. The next morning we set off on what I thought would be a sight-seeing tour: it soon became a procession of visits to back-street car dealers as the Mauritian assistant needed some spare parts for his car back home.
Soooooo typically Mauritian! I can easily imagine the scene: David Elleray wanting to discover the beautiful sights of South Africa, visit some museums and tasting some typical food and nice wine being forced to visits to back-street car dealers as the Mauritian assistant needed some spare parts for his car back home.
It’s funny… and a little bit pathetic at the same time.
Mauritian spammers
Many Mauritian companies are using the services of a spam propagation company called R&K Communications.
Quoting Spam.Abuse.Net, “Spam is flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it. Most spam is commercial advertising, often for dubious products, get-rich-quick schemes, or quasi-legal services. Spam costs the sender very little to send — most of the costs are paid for by the recipient or the carriers rather than by the sender.”
In the USA and most European countries, spamming is illegal. Some quotes from the US federal text follow :
- “Electronic mail has become an extremely important and popular means of communication”
- “The convenience and efficiency of electronic mail are threatened by the extremely rapid growth in the volume of unsolicited commercial electronic mail”
- “Whoever […] knowingly […] uses a […] computer to relay or retransmit multiple commercial electronic mail messages […] shall be punished […] a fine [and/or] imprisonment for not more than 5 years”
An equivalent law does not exist in Mauritius for the time being. That’s why those following companies are indulging in spam willingly. I propose that we boycott them and, furthermore, that they all reimburse us for the money we’ve spent in Internet connectivity downloading their spams.
R&K Communications and R&K Properties (the main culprits)
and some other (please note that this page has not been updated for a long time and the list of abusers has increased) :
ACD Computers Co Ltd, At Home Ltd, AutoMaster Ltd, Batimex Ltd, Berjaya Le Morne, British Airways, CANALSATELLITE Maurice, CLIMAPRO Ltd, Cotton Bay Hotel, ELDO Motors Co. Ltd, FIRST Autogas Ltd, Global Learning (SMU Study Centre), Hassamal Shopping Centre, IV Play, J R Conseil ltd, J.Kalachand & Co Ltd, KING Air Co Ltd, Katizo Ltd, Kick-Boxing Federation, L’Evêque de Port-Louis (great, now, even the Church spams :-(), La Jolie BodyShop Ltd, Le Defi Jeunes, Le Defi Turf, Le PRESKIL Beach Resort, Le Waterpark & Leisure Village, Lo Thiap Hing Ltd, Lovato Autogas Ltd, MSM Limited, MaustralTour Travel Ltd, Maxworks Ltd, Noscana Boutique, Odysseus Co Ltd, One World Travel, Pay And Go Computers, RadioPlus, Revlon, Rose Hill Transport Ltd, SOFAP Ltd, SOS Children’s Village, Sodibur (Maurice) Ltee, Techtonic Ltd, United Spirits Producers Ltd, V-Street, XCLUSIV Properties Ltd, etc. etc. etc.
Spam is bad! Combat it!