ZYRA FRONT PAGE //// SPAM //// SITE INDEX

The Official Definition of SPAM

It's no good them saying "This Is Not Spam"!

You often see stuff like this as an excuse in spam...

This E-mailing has been sent to you as a person interested in the information enclosed. This E-mail is not SPAM under the Federal Regulatory laws of the United States. This message is being sent to you in compliance with the proposed Federal Legislation for commercial e-mail (H.R.4176-SECTION 101 PARAGRAPH (e) (1) (A)) and Bill s.1618 TITLE III passed by the 105th US Congress. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.

or this...

This message is in full compliance with
U.S. Federal requirements for commercial
email under bill S.1618 Title lll, Section 301,
Paragraph (a)(2)(C) passed by the 105th U.S.
Congress and is not considered SPAM
since it includes a remove mechanism.*
This message is not intended for residents in the
states of CA, NC, NV, RI, TN, VA & WA.
Screening of addresses has been done to the best
of our technical ability.

or even this...

This message is in full compliance with U.S. Federal requirements for commercial email under bill S.1618 Title lll, Section 301, Paragraph (a)(2)(C) passed by the 105th U.S. Congress and cannot be considered SPAM since it includes a remove mechanism. To remove you email address (#recipient#) send an email with the subject line "remove" to some bogus remove address@who-cares

or what about this...

This message is in full compliance with U.S. Federal requirements for commercial email under bill S.1618 Title lll, Section 301, Paragraph (a)(2)(C) passed by the 105th U.S. Congress and cannot be considered SPAM since it includes a remove mechanism.  If you are not interested in receiving our e-mails then please reply with a "remove " in the subject line.

Anyway, it's all rubbish, and the reason is quite simple:

Governments have limited powers, and this matter is something beyond their jurisdiction. Some governments overstep themselves and try to exert power where they have no right to do so, and one of the worst offenders is the US Government (that's why the USA is in so much trouble in the world!)

But leaving aside all the politics, quite simply the US Federal Law has no power to tell you whether it's raining in the UK, whether God exists or doesn't, whether something smells bad or not, and whether you are inconvenienced/annoyed by some e-mail or not! These limits on powers were understood by wise rulers such as King Canute who knew full-well he could not hold back the sea, but are neglected by some regimes who sooner or later are heading for trouble.

It's not just that the Government of the USA has no jurisdiction over the rest of the World, despite all the sabre-rattling and pontificating that you see, it's that NO government has the power to tell you what the truth is in your own mind!

So, if you receive an unsolicited e-mail which you can't reply to and which you find annoying, then YES, IT IS SPAM! No amount of Americanist Legislation will make it not so.

What's the REAL definition of SPAM then?

Well, the actual real definition is defined in the relationship between the sender and the recipient. If the sender has no consideration or care for the recipient, then it is spam.

This is not easy to prove for any particular case, as it is something in the mind of the sender, but let's try to illustrate the concept by a few examples:

Suppose someone sends out a friendly message to several of their friends, that's not spam.

Suppose someone sends out a bulk e-mail to members of an opt-in list with proper remove options, then that's not spam either.

Now the real defining point...

Suppose someone sends out an e-mail to a lot of people who they've never met, (ie unsolicited), then it isn't necessarily spam, provided that the sender accepts that any of the recipients may REPLY and may enter into communication. (The way to measure this is by doing a thought experiment where the recipient puts the same amount of human resources into the reply as the sender did as per a one-to-one message. If this is wasted, then the original message is spam). So, a sender who understands and accepts that the recipients may reply and start talking to them, isn't really sending spam.

Some might say that ANY e-mail which is ANNOYING is SPAM, but this is a bit extreme. Of course it's valid if that's what they think. After all, the individual has higher authority than the government.

In general, however, there has to be live-and-let-live, so businesses need to be able to advertise and to offer potential customers stuff for sale. Customers have the right to accept or refuse, and shouldn't be pestered. For any SENT communication there is an implicit acceptance of possible REPLY. If these maxims are considered, then the spam problem is solved.

Also see SPAM, Incoming spam policy, and Outgoing spam policy

Also see the nonsense of YOU HAVE OPTED-IN TO THIS OPT-IN LIST ... See the page about dodgy OPT-IN

Incidentally, the sending of random e-mails is not an efficient way to promote a business! How about having an affiliate program instead?!

Historical note: The reputation of the United States has changed since the original writing of this page. The temporary warmongering state can now be put down to the place going through a bad patch, a bit like Germany in the early 1940s. We look forward to a more positive future.