[pmmail-list] Spam -- your definition

[Robert Gammon]

The last definition comes really, really close to my personal 
definition of spam, so close that I am willing to accept it as a 
standard.  The spam I get is usually HTML marked up, so accessing 
the REMOVE ME instructions is REALLY difficult.

The problem is - the unwashed masses are SO large, that just like 
the HTML issue, they will adopt a different definition than we 
do, one that is likely to be close to - ANY unsolicited e-mail - 
period.

Robert

On Thu, 30 May 2002 11:00:24 -0300, PMMail OS/2 Support wrote:

>On Thu, 30 May 2002 09:52:06 +0100, Brian Morrison wrote:
>
>>Since I loathe html mail (and spam, which most of it is) 
>
>This reminded me of something I have been pondering on lately. 
What
>is your (each of you) definition of "spam"?
>
>I believe that the world Internet community is making a 
potentially
>dangerous "vague" use of the word "spam". Since words need 
commonly
>understood definitions to be useful (just like Internet 
standards,
>btw) it seems odd to me that people talk about "spam" as much as 
they
>do -- in fact, laws are even being passed about "spam" -- 
without any
>concrete, commonly understood or accepted definition.
>
>I know, many of us believe we know exactly what "spam" is, but 
the
>point is not does *one* of us have a definition, the point is, 
doe we
>*share* the definition?
>
>Examples: Some people say to me that *any* unsolicited email is
>"spam". This, to me, seems obviously ridiculous. If I send an 
email
>to someone saying that I saw them post about a computer problem 
and I
>was wondering if they ever found a solution, that's unsolicited
>contact. Should this be considered "spam"?
>
>Some people say any *bulk* email is "spam". If you send it to 
more
>than one person, you're a spammer. OK, what if you're looking 
for a
>job? You probably (if you're following common sense advice) send 
your
>resume -- by email these days -- to at least a handful, maybe up 
to a
>few hundred companies, who probably didn't ask you to do so. 
"Spam"?
>
>Some people say any unsolicited *commercial* email is "spam". 
OK,
>that seems easier to buy, but then why the furious response to 
these
>emails? Unsolicited commercial contact has been around in 
society for
>at least hundreds of years. People come to your door or call you 
on
>the phone and ask if you'll buy their products. They send you 
flyers
>in the mail or through other direct delivery methods, etc. Sure 
we
>don't love it, but most of us don't attempt to have those
>callers/mailers arrested and/or their businesses shut down 
because of
>it. In fact, North American business as we know it would likely 
be
>severely adversely affected (for at least the short term) if we
>suddenly outlawed unsolicited pitches in person, by phone, fax 
or
>postal mail.
>
>Some people say that "spam" is (1) unsolicited (2) bulk (3)
>commercial email that is (4) fraudulent and/or (5) does not 
contain
>any real contact info or method of demanding that the contact 
stop.
>Personally I like that definition because it gives us a target 
that
>we can all agree should be prevented.
>
>Which definition do you use?
>
>
>--
>Trevor Smith
>PMMail/2 Technical Support
>pmmailos2@blueprintsoftwareworks.com
>
>- pmmail-list - The PMMail Dicussion List 
---------------------------
>To POST to the list, send your message to:
>pmmail-list@blueprintsoftwareworks.com
>
>To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message to mdaemon@bmtmicro.com with the 
first 
>line of the message body being...
>UNSUBSCRIBE pmmail-list@blueprintsoftwareworks.com
>----------------------------------------------------------------
-----

- pmmail-list - The PMMail Dicussion List ---------------------------
To POST to the list, send your message to:
pmmail-list@blueprintsoftwareworks.com

To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message to mdaemon@bmtmicro.com with the first 
line of the message body being...
UNSUBSCRIBE pmmail-list@blueprintsoftwareworks.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------