...An article in Monday's San Francisco Chronicle described Senator Debra Bowen's Bill, SB12, which seeks to impose penalties on e-mail spammers.
Do you believe that there is a need to protect legitimate research activity?
I'd agree with prior comments, that what you're proposing is no different from commercial spam. (Although I would have been gentler in my response. Come on, folks, he has an honest concern, and deserves respect for airing it. I'm sure many of his colleagues don't give a damn about who they spam.)
Certainly bulk, unsolicited email would be a cheaper method of polling than others. And I understand your concern that "opt-in" lists comprise a wholly self-selected group.
But even bulk, unsolicited email would reach only a small part of the population. I can think of another method of polling that's even cheaper, and would reach *everybody*: Drop questionnaires from a helicopter over crowded areas.
Of course you wouldn't do that: It would irritate everyone, impose clean-up costs on others, and (probably) be against the law. Those are the same reasons you shouldn't consider spam.
You make several arguments that what your messages are of a public service, aren't commercial, and so forth. These are the same arguments made by most spammers. Every person with a passion can justify their beliefs, and justify the means they use to spread them. To the rest of the world, though, it's all the same: Intrusive, expensive, and unwanted.
So what can you do? SpamCon Foundation hosts resources to help marketers reach an online audience *without* spam. See <http://www.spamcon.org/marketers/index.shtml> to start. It can be done well, without spam.
Good luck!
--
Tom Geller * [EMAIL PROTECTED] * +1-415-552-2557
Secretary, SpamCon Foundation <http://www.spamcon.org>
Protecting email as a medium of communications and commerce
A California non-profit organization
Become a member: <http://www.spamcon.org/membership>
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