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Net advertising, complaining, et al. (was Re: Skinny Dip)
Subject:Net advertising, complaining, et al. (was Re: Skinny Dip) From:Kelly Hoffman <kelly -at- NASHUA -dot- HP -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 25 May 1994 08:47:35 EDT
> Keep in mind that you do not need to subscribe to a list to send
> mail to it.
Perhaps it's time to configure the list such that only subscribers
can send to it. That'll cut down on some of the abuse. The
list of members is should also be available only to subscribers.
If you don't want your subscription known, tell Listserv to keep
your name off the list, using the CONCEAL option. (Of course, if
you post something, your address is then broadcast to the list...)
> From what I last heard his account had been deleted and he had been
> roundly chastised, so mailbombing and other such things will not longer
> be fruitful.
Perhaps, but complaints to the postmaster (as you suggest) might help
prevent a future occurrence from someone else at the site.
It's too bad the poster didn't include an 800 number for ordering --
then you could hit the scum directly in their pocketbook. Seems that
*some* net-advertisers have learned *some* things :-).
If you're really upset, report US Health to your USPS Postmaster, cc:
your state's attorney general, and ask if a mail fraud complaint has
been filed, since the offender was kind enough to include a postal
address. The USPS won't be concerned about Internet advertising, but
they do take plain-old-fashioned mail fraud pretty seriously.
Basically, the question is this: How much effort are you willing to
expend to keep this kind of junk out of your e-mailbox?
> For best results, copy the offending message to the user ids postmaster
> and root at the offending site [...] with a short complaint
> ("I find internet advertising abhorrent, do not send me any more").
^ "in inappropriate areas"
Net advertising can be a positive thing, when done properly and in
the correct newsgroups/mailing lists. (hmmm, should that "/" be an
"or"? :-) How many of us would object to a brief item that informed
us of a new on-line help composition tool that gives us all the features
we've been clammoring for? ("for which we've been clammoring"? :-)
kkh
Kelly K. Hoffman kelly -at- nashua -dot- hp -dot- com
Learning Products Engineer
Hewlett-Packard, Network Test Division "Reading the manual is
One Tara Blvd., Nashua, NH 03062 admitting defeat."
