How to Fight Back
BEFORE You're Falsely Accused of Spam
By Malacka (c) 2003
A friend of mine received a chilling email message from
his ISP the other day. Someone had reported him as
sending SPAM and the ISP warned that an additional SPAM
complaint would result in losing his hosting service
- period. No ifs, ands or buts!
The ISP just took the word of the person filing the
complaint as gospel, even though my friend had the email
subscription notification where this person, or someone
posing as them, had subscribed.
My friend sent me a copy of the subscription notification.
And sure enough, there it was as plain as day… it contained
the date, time and the subscription IP address of the person
making the Spam allegation. Unfortunately, all this
evidence fell on deaf ISP ears.
This little incident firms my conviction that a federal CAN-
SPAM law might not be a bad idea after all. Without it,
persons alleging Spam, like the one above, may be able to sue
under State law. And that's where the nightmare begins…
Oh sure, the person will most likely end up losing the case
but here's the typical situation. The "injured party" files
a lawsuit and the ISP immediately shuts off service to the
publisher. And guess what, the publisher is immediately out
of business even though she/he is sitting there with
evidence that the allegation is totally groundless. Talk
about scary! And if you think this scenario can't happen to
you - think again.
The erroneous reporting of Spam has become wide-spread and has
gotten even easier. Don't like a company or their products?
Just accuse them of spam. Do it a couple of times in one
week and, guess what, they're off line - period.
AOL and Yahoo owners can simply click a button and report
anything they feel like as Spam - with no consequence
whatsoever if the allegation is totally baseless. The "This
is Spam button" has replaced the delete key as "the" answer
for some folks. And I'll bet you'd have a hard time tracking
down whomever made the initial AOL or Yahoo Spam complaint as
well.
Time to Get Tough
There are several proactive steps you can take to protect
yourself against baseless Spam allegations. Admittedly,
there is nothing you can do to stop someone bound and
determined to damage your reputation and business if they
have a mind to do so. You can, however, certainly minimize
the risk of this happening to you. But you do have to be
proactive.
I recommend that you add a legal notice to your subscription
Thank You page and also to every ezine newsletter issue that
you send out. Something along the lines of the following…
"The subscriber agrees, by accepting this email newsletter
subscription, to indemnify the publisher against false
accusations of spam to include, but not limited to, payment
of all damages, loss of web hosting fees and services, all
damages for loss of business and goodwill, and any and all
fees or fines that may be imposed against the publisher by
any federal, state, local authority or civilian business
entity as a result of the false spam accusation."
Add the paragraph above, or something similar, just above
your ezine unsubscribe link.
The reason I think this is a powerful solution is because it
establishes a contract between the publisher and the
subscriber. And contract law is pretty much the same in all
jurisdictions when it comes to breach of contract.
Please note that what I have provided you is for guidance
and informational purposes only and should not be construed as
practicing law. Do check with your local attorney to make
sure that this statement will suffice in your jurisdiction.
But I think you get the idea.
Is this concept new? Hardly, jl Scott of the iCOP
organization thought of this over two years ago. Will it
scare some of your subscribers off? You bet it will. But
guess what…
The people it scares off are exactly the people you DON'T
want on your list anyway. They most likely have the itchy
moronic fingers or the "I've had a bad day let's accuse
someone of Spam and get them shut down" folks that you don't
want to have anything do to with anyway.
Listen, perhaps it's just me, but I wouldn't be fazed in the
least if I saw such a caveat on an ezine I really wanted to
sign up for. Would you? I only want people on my list who
are responsible and willing to accept the consequences of
their actions. People who, if they mistakenly accuse me of
Spam and got my business erroneously shut down, would face
up to their responsibility and pay for the damage they
caused. I don't want a Spam Nazi on my list who is too lazy
to hit the delete key. No thanks!
Rough? Yes, but that's the reality of doing business on the
Internet today.
Other Options Available
Paul Hancox of UpYourMarketing.com has just released a
brilliant report that outlines several other steps any
prudent publisher online should take to protect themselves
and their online business. It's called "The ePublishers
Survival Kit - How to Minimize Spam Complaints and Defend
Yourself Against False Spam Accusations." You can download
a free copy of the report by clicking this link
http://www.writersnest.com/spampro.zip
The report is in pdf format so MAC and WIN users alike can
access the information. Combine these recommendations with
those in Paul's report and you'll pretty much be covered.
Final thoughts. I don't have to remind you of how hard you
worked to build your online business. Protect yourself and
minimize the risk of having it suddenly shut down by
following the recommendations here and in Paul's free
report.
While you can't stop malicious Spam complaints 100%, taking
proactive steps now can go a long way to making sure your
business remains safe and viable. Believe me, that'll make
you sleep much better at night! Click here to get Paul's
free report now
http://www.writersnest.com/spampro.zip
============================================================
Malacka - Copyright 2003
http://www.writersnest.com
Stuff that Really Works to Make You Money Online!
http://www.hot-matches.com
http://www.dog-training-at-home.com
Feel free to distribute this article so long as it remains
unedited and the resource box is included.
============================================================ |
