legitimate unsolicited commercial e-mail vs spam

From: David Ross <dross_at_kantorlaw.com>
Date: Wed 27 Oct 1999 08:59:01 -0700

I am a law student taking a class in e-commerce law at
Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. I am writing a paper
taking the position that legitimate unsolicited commercial
e-mail (e.g. business to business, or directed at website
owners, complying with proposed/actual federal and/or state
legislation, with easy removal from mailing list, etc)
should be distinguished from "bad" spam (e.g. fake return
addresses, pyramid plans, pornography, etc.), and should be
permitted (if not actually encouraged).

I am also planning to discuss the ramifications of sending
unsolicited commercial email on the sending business and
their relationships with their hosting ISP.

I would greatly appreciate it if you can point me to any
articles, research, sites, etc. dealing with these issues?
Most of the material I have uncovered treats spam as all the
same thing, and the rationales against spam mostly rely on
the abuses of "bad' spam. The legal material tends to
discuss Internic policies and court cases, but doesn't
really deal with the practical realities of the issues.

Any help, hints, guidance, or comments you can provide would
be very welcome and greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,
David Ross





Received on Wed Oct 27 1999 - 10:59:01 CDT