Friday, December 7, 2007

SPAM - Part 2

For futher clarification on what is NOT spam . . . it is NOT a transactional or relationship message with the primary purpose of which is—
 
(i) to facilitate, complete, or confirm a commercial transaction that the recipient has previously agreed to enter into with the sender;
 
(ii) to provide warranty information, product recall information, or safety or security information with respect to a commercial product or service used or purchased by the recipient;
 
(iii) to provide—
     (I) notification concerning a change in the terms or features of;
    (II) notification of a change in the recipient's standing or status with respect to; or
    (III) at regular periodic intervals, account balance information or other type of account statement with respect to, a subscription, membership, account, loan, or comparable ongoing commercial relationship involving the ongoing purchase or use by the recipient of products or services offered by the sender;
 
(iv) to provide information directly related to an employment relationship or related benefit plan in which the recipient is currently involved, participating, or enrolled; or
 
(v) to deliver goods or services, including product updates or upgrades, that the recipient is entitled to receive under the terms of a transaction that the recipient has previously agreed to enter into with the sender.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

SPAM - Part 1

To be considered spam, one of the criteria is that the message is transmitted by electronic mail with the primary purpose being a commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service (including content on an Internet website operated for a commercial purpose).

This does NOT include a transactional or relationship message, such as one you would receive from a company where you have purchased and/or used services.
 
So, if you have recently signed up for a service and/or previously signed up for a service, you may still be getting e-mail from the company and it would not be considered spam. Most likely they informed you via their online terms of service that they would send you messages as a result of your service request.

Monday, December 3, 2007

SPAM

The next series of posts will deal with identifying spam messages, which may allow you to have your Internet service provider pursue the spammer under the CAN-SPAM act. There are several criteria that determine whether a message is classified as spam in your inbox and then, if classified as spam, there is additional criteria to determine whether the message violates the rules in the CAN-SPAM act.