NONE: Subject: ONLINE-ADS>> Unsolicited Commercial Email: Some People
Subject: ONLINE-ADS>> Unsolicited Commercial Email: Some People
Mark J. Welch, Esq. (markwelch_at_ca-probate.com)
Tue, 09 Sep 1997 10:50:29 -0700
Don't "Get It"
Sender: owner-online-ads_at_o-a.com
Precedence: bulk
Today, I received three copies of an unsolicited commercial email
message promoting a product called "Hit List Professional" from
a company called Marketwave. The email was broadcast by
Focalink, apparently to every web publisher listed in its Market
Match database. I got the same email three times to the same
email address. (It is unclear whether MarketWave agreed to
pay a fee or share profits from sales generated by the mailing,
or whether Focalink may have sent the mailing for free simply
because it believed the mailing was useful to web publishers
listed in its database.)
This was a "targetted" email -- sent to people, like me, who are
web publishers, and who are presumably the target market for
the product. Yet I am offended whenever I get unsolicited
commercial email, because broadcasting unsolicited commercial
email is illegal and unethical, and therefore I can only assume
that any company that would send unsolicited commercial
email is going to do other unethical and illegal things. (Yes, I
recognize that there is strong dispute regarding the legality of
sending UCE, and I don't think this forum is the place to
continue that debate.)
In this case, I called Steve Sanders at Marketwave and he
offered to "remove my name from the list" but he simply did
not "get it" -- he refused to concede that sending unsolicited
commercial email was wrong, or to agree not to do it again.
He basically treated me like a kook and got me off the phone
as soon as he could. I also spoke with someone at Focalink,
who also did not "get it."
I have asked that Focalink delete all entries for my web sites
from its directories, and I will be updating my web page about
banner advertising to urge web publishers to boycott Focalink,
MarketMatch, and MarketWave due to this spamming.
I am sure that some (perhaps most) participants on this list
will conclude that I am overreacting; and that many people
believe that highly targetted unsolicited email marketing is
"okay." I don't agree; I think that unless I react swiftly and
unreservedly to abuses of unsolicited commercial email, I
am inviting vendors to spam with impunity. (One of the
main defenses of spammers is that "99% of people like it"
which means that 99% did not complain. And some
spammers admit that they don't even care if they irritate
99% as long as 0.01% place orders, since that makes it
all profitable.) Unless we actively BOYCOTT companies
that spam, they will profit from the activity; hence I feel
a duty to proclaim my outrage and boycott spammers.
Finally, I know that the overworked moderators do NOT want
to start a "religious war" about spam in general, and therefore
I suspect they will insert some kind of moderator's note after
this email (if they post it), suggesting appropriate parameters
and limitations for follow-up discussion. (If they do not, please
restrict postings to this list to substantive, as opposed to flame
or religious, postings.)
-- Mark J. Welch, Esq. (510) 462-8483 http://www.ca-probate.com/
-- This message is NOT legal advice, and is NOT confidential.
-- Web Site Banner Ads and Web Counters: http://www.markwelch.com/
-- Small Office / Home Office Consumer: http://www.sohoconsumer.com/
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