Re: Referral Script considered SPAM?

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Re: Referral Script considered SPAM?

From Max on 04 August '98
adding to Referral Script considered SPAM? posted by David Jacobs

>In my server's newsgroups, I have been advised almost unanimously that use of the referral script would constitute a violation of my server's no spam policy.
>The reasoning was that the recipient of the email has not requested it, and therefore by definition this is spam.
But you aren't the one choosing to send, it's the user of the script who is doing the selecting, and sending these emails one by one. It's really just a fancy
autoresponder script. If you collect and use the email addresses for any purpose beyond what you state on the page with the script (like to send ads to, or sell
to other persons) THAT slides over the line into SPAM-dom and you deserve to get whacked!

>I would like your opinion on this Max. Anyone else who has any thoughts on the issue is welcome to contribute. If you have used the script before--have you ever received complaints?
I've never seen the script in action - sorry Jim, but I've never used it because I don't want my competetition reading this stuff :)
The only flaw in the script is that it could be misused - let's say I have a grudge against BrainWipe, so I go to the
referral page and "refer" him a gazillion times ... unless the script has a way to track which IP address the person
making the referral uses AND a way to prevent repeat referrals,it could become a nuisance.
Also, if the referral includes a subscription to any newsletter, it should require a positive confirmation before any newsletters start coming. That is, unless the
person who got the referral replies with a "YES, send me the newsletter" nothing happens.

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Reply:	>>In my server's newsgroups, I have been advised almost unanimously that use of the referral script would constitute a violation of my server's no spam policy. >>The reasoning was that the recipient of the email has not requested it, and therefore by definition this is spam. > But you aren't the one choosing to send, it's the user of the script who is doing the selecting, and sending these emails one by one. It's really just a fancy >autoresponder script. If you collect and use the email addresses for any purpose beyond what you state on the page with the script (like to send ads to, or sell >to other persons) THAT slides over the line into SPAM-dom and you deserve to get whacked! >>I would like your opinion on this Max. Anyone else who has any thoughts on the issue is welcome to contribute. If you have used the script before--have you ever received complaints? > I've never seen the script in action - sorry Jim, but I've never used it because I don't want my competetition reading this stuff :) >The only flaw in the script is that it could be misused - let's say I have a grudge against BrainWipe, so I go to the >referral page and "refer" him a gazillion times ... unless the script has a way to track which IP address the person >making the referral uses AND a way to prevent repeat referrals,it could become a nuisance. > Also, if the referral includes a subscription to any newsletter, it should require a positive confirmation before any newsletters start coming. That is, unless the >person who got the referral replies with a "YES, send me the newsletter" nothing happens.