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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 JOHN MALYON REPLIED:
> I do think that the common term "unsolicited commercial
> e-mail" is too vague. I would certainly be afraid of any
> law which enshrined this phrase. For that matter, I have
> also received non-commercial spam on a number of
> occasions. I think the important thing that distinguishes
> spam from conventional e-mail, is that it is a mass
> mailing. But if someone writes a letter to me personally, I
> don't object to that even if it proves to be of no value to
> me. Does anyone else share my concerns?
You took the words right out of my mouth, John. I think the
problem with most of the initial replies to this thread is
that they were all reacting to the word "spam" with the
usual reaction: "Kill the spammers!". Unfortunately, this
left out consideration of your points from their responses.
How do you do business on the internet without e-mailing
people? If sending people e-mail business to business on the
internet is going to be considered spam, how can anyone get
anything done? If you need to get permission from someone
first to send them unsolicited e-mail, how do you do that?
Do you send them an unsolicited e-mail (which may also be
viewed as spam by some) asking them for permission to send
them more e-mail?
I personally have always defined spam as unsolicited bulk
e-mail as well (regardless of being commercial or
non-commercial). If someone's going to write to me
personally and offer me something that we may both benefit
from, I don't consider it to be spam as long as it meets
these qualifications: a) they don't send it to me 10 times
because I ignored the first 9, b) they send it to me (not to
me and 6000 other people), and c) it doesn't appear to be a
form letter and actually shows the person really has been to
my site and found interest in pursuing a business
relationship as a result.
If we classify all unsolicited commercial e-mail as spam, it
would potentially put a damper on the internet as a business
world. As a couple of other people have said previously on
this list, there is a need for people to contact others on
the internet without fear that it will be viewed as spam.
Imagine the internet if the government were to say you
couldn't send unsolicited e-mail (a broad term, but it's not
inconceivable for that to be the wording)... since most
e-mail is unsolicited, it'd become very problematic.
Shane Sacobie
VGF.Net
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Received on Fri Nov 05 1999 - 18:33:32 CST
