[Asrg] Re: can a single posting to a subscription list qualify as spam

[wayne <wayne at schlitt.net>]

In <4384D0AA.7030802 at dcrocker.net> Dave Crocker <dhc at dcrocker.net> writes:

> der Mouse wrote:
>>>> [...]
>>> I think you just spammed us.
>> I don't.  It may have been inappropriate, it may have been abusive,
>> but
>> it wasn't bulk (at least, assuming that, as it appears, only one
>> message was sent, to our list), and thus couldn't have been spam.
>
>
> Assuming that we do not want to define spam as "whatever I don't want", then 
> let's try to use this example to consider criteria:
>
> 1. This mailing list has a purpose.  Does the purpose include soliciting 
> sales of any products?  If it does not then the posting certainly qualified 
> as "unsolicited".

We, who subscribe to this list, have solicited the trafic that comes
from it.  The email wasn't unsolicited, it was just rude and
off-topic.

If this list has too many problems with unwanted (from my point of
view) traffic, I can unsubcribe, just like I subscribed.  The list
owner can (and should) take steps to try and reduce the number of
offtopic posts.

Now, if, I didn't subscribe to this list, or if an unsubscribe didn't
cause emails to stop, *THEN* it would be unsolicited.  


Similarly, if someone I know and talk with periodically starts sending
me jokes, these jokes are not unsolicited.  There is an implicit (and
often explicit) solicitation of emails from people you know.



> So if the posting was not spam, why not?

As above, it fails the "unsolicited" part.


-wayne


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