Re: Email List Sponsorships

From: Trevor Johnson <bpfsa_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Thu 15 Feb 2001 16:05:53 -0600

NELSON E. TIMKEN, ESQ. <netimken_at_erols.com> WROTE:
> I have a follow-up question. What do you think of
> the viability of purchasing email addresses of
> opt-in users to establish a base for
> the newsletter in order to get it rolling?

If you buy the list, it is no longer opt-in. The people
on the list you purchase did NOT opt-in to receive
anything from you.

What you are proposing is spam. No shades of grey.
Don't do it. Don't even think about.

Think, though, about why you would even THINK about
buying a list from someone who is prepared to play fast
& loose with other people's privacy - and almost
certainly (if it truly was an "opt-in" list in the
first place) breaching the promises of privacy they
have made to their subscribers. Do you really want to
do business with someone like that? And, if after
thinking about that, you are still comfortable with it,
think about what that says about YOU.

> As ad adjunct, what would you, and the other users
> of this list consider to be a fair cost per email
> address for targeted email subscribers.

You will find whatever the "cost" will be merely the
beginning of what it will end up costing you. Have you
checked your ISP's Terms of Service lately? Do you
really want to run the risk of loosing your accounts?
Do you really want to risk criminal charges pertaining
to bandwidth theft and chattel trespass? Do you want to
run the risk of your domain ending up on blacklists,
effectively barring 40% of the world from reaching you
or you being able to reach them?

And, if an email address at one of our domains is on
the spam-list you purchase, be aware that our website
clearly sets out what we do to any spammers who send
unsolicited spam to our domain. You will become
immediately liable for $US500 per spam you send.

Our contracted Collection Agency is only happy to
pursue and collect.

I repeat the above advice..... Don't do it. Don't even
THINK about buying lists of email addresses.

Try purchasing advertising space in a genuine
double-opt-in mailing list instead. In the long run
(and almost certainly the short run, too), you'll find
this far more cost effective than the damage you'll do
to yourself by spamming.

Yours sincerely,

Trevor Johnson.
http://bestprac.com
Become a Bestprac Member today and have your say in
developing the Principles of Best Practice in Email
Spam Prevention and Eradication.





Received on Thu Feb 15 2001 - 16:05:53 CST