The Other Side of SPAM
We hate getting those unwanted messages in our inbox. People have gone to great lengths to try and eliminate Spam. But is the Cure worse than the Disease?
It is easy to report Spam. Several websites exist that will automatically forward your complaint to the authorities (ISP's). They simplify the process to allow the nearly illiterate the ability to protect their email boxes from Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE or Spam). At first glance this looks like a good thing. Make it easy to catch Spammers and fine them (typically $200 per email sent) for abusing the system. However a deeper investigation reveals some problems. It seems that the services are not validating the reports before forwarding them to the ISP's. Additionally, there are no measures in place to prevent a report for a single "offense" being repeated. Considering the severity of the punishment handed down by many ISP's (instant termination, no questions asked) a potential for abuse exists.
Recently I was falsely accused of spamming. Fortunately I had all of the necessary information to prevent being shut down. But it took the better part of a week to get things fixed. Why? Because a single individual decided that an email was spam. That lone individual has access to websites that allow him to act as victim, judge, jury and executioner. He was able to blast his accusation to multiple locations, multiple times, and heretofore without fear of retribution. In essence he was allowed to spam my ISP, along with several others and because he was part of the Crusade to stop spam, his message was Gleefully forwarded without question. Were it not for a very good working relationship with my ISP. My site would likely have been terminated immediately.
There was only one little teeny tiny problem with the spam report. Seems the user forgot to mention he opted in to my list! That means he requested to be sent email! I take the spam issue very seriously. And make certain that I do everything possible to avoid sending an unwanted email. I have gone well beyond the legal requirements to protect myself from spurious complaints. Implementing these measures adds to the cost of doing business on the net. And remember the reason for these measures is to protect ourselves from false or invalid complaints. Thankfully these measures prevented a major catastrophe. All is once again well in my Internet kingdom.
As a result I am changing a policy on my website and am suggesting that other Business owners do the same.
Since the Anti-spam sites and most ISP's have a stated policy wherein they state a fine of $200 per spam email sent. I propose a similar fine for the false reporting of spam.
My suggested text is as follows:
Placed immediately following the "we don't use Spam section."
Filing false Spam reports are considered as bad as spamming itself. As such, for each false report the reporter and the services that forward the false report will be charged $200 or actual damages, whichever is higher.
In the above case my faux-reporter would be charged $1200, as would the firm that forwarded his message six times.
David Weed
aka the Bird of Prey
www.warp-drive.com
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