Re: Dealing with Spam and other canned meats

From: Pesach Lattin <info_at_adspyre.com>
Date: Fri 02 Aug 2002 17:52:37 -0500

   Todd Kellner writes: "The figure 95% (of spam comes from optin
distribution/selling) is patently untrue. I figured I'd conduct a brief,
unscientific check of all the mail received by our feedback@, submit@ and
support@ aliases for a more realistic figure, since none of these addresses
are ever used to sign up for offers or newsletters...93% of the UCEs
received by our support and feedback aliases are harvested from our sites
and re-sold to other spammers"

   I write: No-Duh Todd! Since those addresses AREN'T used for signups (they
aren't normal-use email accounts!), of course they will not be recieving
optin/out "spam." But I was talking in general, not specifically. Your
statement is no different than me pointing out that 95% of the people out
there will have an orgasm in the next 12 months, and then you telling me
that you belong to a secret society that cuts off its testicles and telling
me that none of your guys have ever had an orgasm, and thus my figures are
wrong.

    Lets concentrate on the real problems here, especially since this is a
ONLINE ADVERTISING DISCUSSION LIST and not a bitch board about spam. Since
no one here really thinks that unethical, illegal spammers actually fall
into the discussion of online advertising, and that they somehow are going
to start following DMA rules or perhaps see the CyberJesus and change their
ways, we need to focus on the _spam problem_ within our industry. The fact
is, the sales of email optin addresses is quite accepted in the PROFESSIONAL
online industry.

    Go to any online advertising convention and you_ll see what I am talking
about. The email _optin_ companies are all over the place, and you_ll find
that most of them will either sell or buy names from what some of you would
consider _spam lists._ I_m talking about public companies, well known
companies, and companies that are saying they have _true double optin_ names
that have been _cleaned, wiped and sanctified._ As someone who sells data,
let me tell you this, it_s not true. We all rely on the fact that somewhere
down the road, the user clicked on a box that basically said, _Sell my name
as many times as you want, to whomever you want, cause that is what this
optin says._

    Maybe Tenegra (the sponsor/owner of this list) doesn_t do this, and I am
sure Cliff is going to point this out. Then again, Tenegra isn_t a major
player in the online advertising industry, and perhaps its because they are
_ethical._ The fact is all the _major_ players in data-sales are doing this
to some extent, because it_s the only way they can get mass amounts of data
of different levels readily available. If you are an engineering company,
and you want engineering names RIGHT NOW, the only way I can get it, is to
approach a company that is in the field and tell them I_ll buy their
database. Or I can try to collect these names another way, wait 5 months,
and someone else will have sold it to that company by then.


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Received on Fri Aug 02 2002 - 17:52:37 CDT