Actually the article does address this - it states that statistics show that about 66% of the population have already been attacked by phishers (section 4.1.1), and that therefore there is limited scope for the expansion of the phishing industry.

I know you're trying to be funny, but logic dictates the exact opposite. Assuming that phishers would rather do ordinary work if it pays better, then the higher the minimum wage, then the number of phishers would be reduced until the amount received from phishing increases above the minimum wage.

Eliminating the minimum wage does the opposite - the number of phishers would increase until the return is reduced to such a level that they can't eat. At some point the amount of new phishers entering the phishing industry balances out with the number of phishers dying from starvation and you achieve equilibrium.

So there you have it - the higher the minimum wage, the lower the phishing; and conversely the lower the minimum wage, the higher the phishing. QED. :-)

You've got to be kidding me! It's not socialist, it's 'nihilist', which, judging from its 'Goal' page, is a form of fascism. socialistworker.org would not associate itself with their views at all!

Of course AOL get absolutely nothing in exchange for their munificent free hosting that they provide? They're just doing it all out of the goodness of their hearts and can withdraw at any time, hey? And that's their right is it?

Wrong! "Free hosting" websites get traffic in exchange for content from their users. This traffic can be used for generating advertising revenue. I'm willing to bet that if these AOL services were as popular as Facebook, MySpace or Flickr they wouldn't be shutting them down. AOL was trying to build a valuable asset for themselves out of their users' blood, sweat and tears and when it didn't work out, coldly cut them off.

"Free" websites aren't free. It's a hosting for content type arrangement. Sure the hosting company provides free hosting, but the users provide the host free content. There's a two way street here.

Some of the comments here are so insensitive it's shocking. It's as if the company/landlord has all the rights and the users/tenants have absolutely none. Did you guys even read the comments associated with the OP? All these users, suddenly cut off, with no way to recover their data trying in desperation to get some help, all coldly ignored. AOL even ignored requests from the site developers to move the code to a non-profit organisation.

Seriously, why do you guys whinge and complain about Microsoft/Wall St/Enron/insert other ar$ehole company here when it's clear you all support a capitalist hell?