Fw: Unsolicited commercial email (was [ILUG] Europe chickens out of

[John P. Looney]

On Wed, Jul 18, 2001 at 12:36:04PM -0400, Ruairi Newman mentioned:
> E-mail is the easiest form of communication from which to opt out.
> Recipients need only press reply and type "unsubscribe". We could
> legislate that opt-outs need to be as easy as that, as the Parliament
> committee has tried to do. A consumer who receives unsolicited emails
> having opted-out can easily point to this opt-out, and his inclusion on
> an opt-out register, to challenge the sender. It is far more difficult
> for the consumer to prove that he has never "opted-in" at any time in
> the past. Alternatively, customers can use filters to ensure that they
> never even receive unsolicited commercial email from troublesome
> companies, who would obey neither opt out nor opt-in. 

 Problem being that most "spammers" consider an "unsubscribe" to be a sign
of an active email account, which they can then sell for a higher price,
so most knowledgeable email users will not do this.

Kate

-- 
When I say 'free', I mean 'free': free from bond, of chain or command:
to go where you will, even to Mordor, Saruman, if you desire. "
    -- Gandalf, paraphrasing the choice between Free and Non-free software