When is Bulk "Bulk"

[Rob McEwen <ro...@powerviewsystems.com>]

When is Bulk "Bulk"?

The reason I ask is because I have a client who sends unsolicited e-mails to
prospective clients. But he does this manually by visiting relevant web
sites and then one-at-a-time, he personally e-mails these prospective
clients. I don't consider this spam because it is not bulk and my client can
actually tell you who he e-mailed that day and why.

Still, this is a very slippery slope... what happens if he e-mails 50 such
addresses that he manually spotted using a generic form letter? Would that
be spam? I'm thinking "yes".

...However, if these e-mails are sent one at a time and individualized to
the recipient in a way that could NOT possibly be computer generated (not
another "I visited your web site and I think its great" statements... but
meaningful content that only a person with knowledge of the recipient could
write)... in that case, I think he is ok, even if most of each letter came
from a generic "template".

Maybe there are no hard & simple rules... but I'd sure love some additional
advice?

Rob McEwen
PowerView Systems
Rob@PowerViewSystems.com

Re: When is Bulk "Bulk"

[Thomas Cameron <th...@camerontech.com>]

On Tue, 2005-08-09 at 13:37 -0400, Rob McEwen wrote:
> When is Bulk "Bulk"?
> 
> The reason I ask is because I have a client who sends unsolicited e-mails to
> prospective clients. But he does this manually by visiting relevant web
> sites and then one-at-a-time, he personally e-mails these prospective
> clients. I don't consider this spam because it is not bulk and my client can
> actually tell you who he e-mailed that day and why.
> 
> Still, this is a very slippery slope... what happens if he e-mails 50 such
> addresses that he manually spotted using a generic form letter? Would that
> be spam? I'm thinking "yes".
> 
> ...However, if these e-mails are sent one at a time and individualized to
> the recipient in a way that could NOT possibly be computer generated (not
> another "I visited your web site and I think its great" statements... but
> meaningful content that only a person with knowledge of the recipient could
> write)... in that case, I think he is ok, even if most of each letter came
> from a generic "template".
> 
> Maybe there are no hard & simple rules... but I'd sure love some additional
> advice?

Spam is often called UCE - "unsolicited commercial e-mail."  If it's
commercial, and it is unsolicited, and it's e-mail, it's spam.  If you
are off-loading your advertising costs onto *my* e-mail system, it's a
sure-fire way to make sure I never use your product or service.

Thomas

Re: When is Bulk "Bulk"

[Matt Kettler <mk...@evi-inc.com>]

Rob McEwen wrote:
> When is Bulk "Bulk"?
> 
> The reason I ask is because I have a client who sends unsolicited e-mails to
> prospective clients. But he does this manually by visiting relevant web
> sites and then one-at-a-time, he personally e-mails these prospective
> clients. I don't consider this spam because it is not bulk and my client can
> actually tell you who he e-mailed that day and why.

Your opinion may differ, but since you are asking...

I think you need to consider how your definition of 'spam' matches up with the
rest of the world. You seem to define spam in terms of bulk. Most aren't so limited.

I personally define spam as either UCE or UBE. Either one.

UCE - unsolicited commercial email
UBE - unsolicited bulk email

Therefore, to me, and many others, it doesn't matter how few messages there are,
or how individual the message is. If it's unsolicited email of a commercial
nature, it's spam. Period.

However, most spam laws don't outright prohibit UCE. They prohibit forgeries,
and have various opt-out requirements. However, such laws vary from
state-to-state, and you better check to make sure UCE is allowed in the state
your user is sending mail to.

Most decent ISP terms of service prohibit both UBE and UCE. You should too.

i.e.:
http://www.comcast.net/terms/use.jsp

Contains:
"transmit unsolicited bulk or commercial messages or "spam." This includes, but
is not limited to, unsolicited advertising, promotional materials or other
solicitation material, bulk mailing of commercial advertising, chain mail,
informational announcements, charity requests, and petitions for signatures;"



Please note that it's an OR here, not an AND. All unsolicited commercial
messages are spam in comcast's eyes.


And:
http://site.aol.com/copyright/rules.html

Prohibits spamming as:
"constitutes unauthorized or unsolicited advertising, junk or bulk e-mail (also
known as "Spamming"), chain letters, any other form of unauthorized
solicitation, or any form of lottery or gambling;"

Again, unsolicited advertising is defined as spam.