Re: legitimate unsolicited commercial e-mail vs spam

From: Doug Bates <dougbates_at_geocities.com>
Date: Wed 03 Nov 1999 23:00:25 -0500

DAVID ROSS WROTE:
> 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).

TO WHICH FRANK FLEISCHER REPLIED:
> Sorry David, every definition I have seen of spam anywhere
> says your term "legitimate unsolicited commercial e-mail"
> is an oxymoron. Spam is unsolicited email of any kind...one
> cannot legitimize it by calling it something it is not. A
> rose by any other name...

I think there is legitimate unsolicited commercial email. I
get it all the time. People contact me individually about
business propositions. For example, they see I've advertised
on a site similar to theirs. They check my site, and
contact me to let me know about their service. This is
commercial, and it's unsolicited, and it's email.

For me, the big difference is that if a human has taken the
time to track you down and write to you personally, it's
"legitimate unsolicited commercial e-mail".
--
Doug Bates, Sr. Product Manager, Aquent Talent Finder
The Search Engine for Finding Independent Professionals
http://talentfinder.aquent.com/




Received on Wed Nov 03 1999 - 22:00:25 CST