Dedicated anti-spammers like Spamhaus's Steve Linford have spent years negotiating with tier-one and tier-two backbone providers, trying to persuade them to shut down known spamming operations. And he's been amazingly successful.

The problem? There's too much money for many of them to turn down -- literally millions a month in bandwidth charges. Spammers who get booted just move to another provider or set up shop under a different name, so it becomes a constant game of whack-a-mole. And then there's the thriving black market of Web hosts and bandwidth providers who specialize in providing safe haven to the scum of the Internet.

I suppose if this were an easy nut to crack we'd all be eating peanuts by now -- and enjoying a spam-free Internet.

Last time out I suggested sentencing spammers to some quality time in a maximum security cell with an ex-biker named "Tiny." But I think that's too good for these people. They should be strung up by their thumbs and forced to watch ShamWow infomercials and Rick Astley videos until their ears bleed.

Are you with me? Who wants to take pitchforks and torches to the homes of the world's worst spammers? Vote aye or nay below or email me: cringe@infoworld.com.