[pmmail-list] Spam -- your definition

[jay gee]

Trevor (PMMail OS/2 Support) wrote:

>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"?

Unsolicited non-commercial contact should not be considered "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.

Any unsolicited contact by e-mail with the apparent intent of furthering
a brand image, or making a sale, or promoting a product or service
qualifies as "spam" in my book.  This includes receiving unsolicited
pitches from folks with whom you already have an established tie,
e.g., Earthlink has taken to spamming its subscribers with its own
messages under the guise of "spreading the news," and they were
not smart enough to provide an opt-out.

BTW, unsolicited pitches by FAX are illegal in the USA and recipients
of unsolicited faxes can get $500 damages from the sender if they
want to pursue it.

The cost of making unsolicited face to face, telephonic or direct mail
contact is orders of magnitude greater than the cost of sending email.
This makes marketers think twice about who they attempt to contact.
It is obvious from reading the messages that the same level of scrutiny
has not been applied to 99% of the unsolicited e-mail messages I get.
I suspect the experience of others is the same which is why this argument
rages on so fiercely.

Jay Gee

- 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
---------------------------------------------------------------------