[thelist] Re: Is this too harsh?

[Dave Zero]

>
> Message: 4
> From: "Samir M. Nassar" <nassarsa at redconcepts.net>
> To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
> Date: 04 May 2002 05:41:47 -0500
> Subject: [thelist] Is this too harsh? :-)
> Reply-To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
>
> Hi gang..
>
> As I've mentioned in the past, I am extremely sensitive to spam.
>
> Today I found an email that seems like a brochure.
>
> It was unsolicited, it wasn't a specific business proposal, and it
was
> HTML email. (grrr)
>
> I sent the following reply. I just wanted some reactions as to
whether
> this is harsh or not. Recieving person is protected...
>
> <copy>
> It is a bad business practice to send unsolicited mail.
>
> First, you are not making a business proposal to RedConcepts.NET,
you
> sent me a brochure. This puts you well into our definition of SPAM
since
> we did not solicit your business.
>
> Second, you sent HTML email. This is something we find offensive
and
> rude. Rest assured that this detail on its own removes your
product from
> our consideration. Our bandwidth and patience cost money, and we
don't
> have the time to sift through markup that is irrelevant to the
message.
> Your sales-pitch could just as well have been achieved through
plain
> text. Frankly I find the need to use HTML a tad insulting, since
it
> seems to assume that RedConcepts.NET does not posess the
brainpower to
> comprehend regular text.
>
> Third, after visiting your website I am not convinced that dealing
with
> your business is in our best interest. Mass search engine
submissions
> can be interpreted as a hackjob and can actually cause us to be
> blackballed if we are percieved as spammers ourselves.
>
> Fourth, unless you are soliciting RedConcepts.NET for a project it
would
> not be advisable for your mail to find itself in our mailbox as
we'll
> consider that agressive spamming, the consequences of which will
be
> submission to an RBL and notification of your ISP.
>
> Fifth, if we felt that we needed more exposure don't you think
we'd have
> sought you out? Well now you don't have to wonder. This is one
customer
> who will not seek you out.
>
> Remember, this is in no way personal, it is merely business.
> </copy>
>
> Your friendly neighborhood anti-spammer,
>
> Samir M. Nassar
> RedConcepts.NET - Open Source, Public Service
> http://www.redconcepts.net

Samir,

I think you were twice as polite as you needed to be; certainly no
one cal call this "too harsh".

He broke the law and cost you time and money. Instead of just
calling him names or threatening to report him to some anti-spam
agency, you rattled off a useful list of the thing he'd done to take
himself out of consideration - in a sense, you are the generous one
for taking your time to give him some tips that might help him if he
ever re-thinks his marketing strategy.

Sending a virus or making a death threat is definitely "too harsh";
your gentle and professional reprimand sounds just fine to me.

Dave Zero