Re: Email List Sponsorships

From: Al Lierman <alierman_at_planigent.com>
Date: Wed 28 Feb 2001 15:17:25 -0600

TREVOR JOHNSON <bpfsa_at_yahoo.com> WROTE:

>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.

Given your position, which I assume is a formal relationship
of some kind with the http://bestprac.com domain included
in your signature, I would appreciate some clarification. I
have been asked hundreds of times while subscribing to
email newsletters or other online lists whether I would like
to receive announcements from the partners of the site
that is accepting my subscription. For example, a PC hardware
content site with a newsletter might ask me if I would like
to receive emails about special products or deals offered
by their partners. Are you saying that if I agree and one of
these partners buys the list and sends me an email its spam?
Seems rather extreme to me.

In that case I have opted in to receive the information and
have explicitly granted permission for the company to give
(or sell) my email address to another company. How have
they "prepared to play fast and loose" with my privacy?
If they sell my email address without my permission, this
is clearly wrong; there are "no shades of grey," as you put
it, in that instance.

In Mr. Timken's case, if a reputable supplier of opt-in email
lists provides him with the email addresses of people who
have explicitly agreed to receive announcements about
newsletters like his, how is it spam? I did not get the
impression from Mr. Timken's original post that he had
any intention of sending unsolicited email to anyone.

If I am missing something here, kindly enlighten me. I
certainly object strongly to spam as much as the next guy,
but I don't think we should throw out the permission-based
marketing baby with the spam bath water.

Best regards,

Al Lierman
President/CEO Planigent
Smart Business Plans and Strategies
http://www.planigent.com
alierman_at_planigent.com



Received on Wed Feb 28 2001 - 15:17:25 CST