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Domain: catalogchoice.org

Stories and comments across the archive that link to catalogchoice.org.

Comments · 8

  1. Re:Obligatory note: the USPS is intentionally brok by mattack2 · · Score: 1 · on US Postal Service To Make Sunday Deliveries For Amazon

    Don't get me wrong; I despise bulk mail, and it inevitably goes right in the recycling bin for me.

    Why don't you simply *stop* the junk mail in the first place?

    The free iOS app PaperKarma lets you take snapshots of your junk mail to unsubscribe that way.

    There's more info about stopping junk mail at:
    http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0262-stopping-unsolicited-mail-phone-calls-and-email
    and
    https://www.catalogchoice.org/

  2. Re:one less day of junk mail by ColdWetDog · · Score: 3, Insightful · on US Postal Service Discontinuing Saturday Mail Delivery

    That's probably because you were being kind of a dick. If you don't want the mail, then you opt out. Most of them have opt outs online, for credit card offers, I've found that using the return mail envelops to send them my junk mail works brilliantly in getting me off their lists. Do that a few times and they get the picture that you didn't want to be contacted. I don't generally do that unless they've really offended me, like that outfit that was too lazy to even verify that my name was spelled correctly on the envelop.

    But, most of the time, something like https://www.catalogchoice.org/ will get you off the lists. They don't want to waste money sending to people who are less likely to buy their whatever as a result of getting the publication than if they sent nothing.

    Right. I like to spend random hours opting out of things I never heard of in the first place. Sounds like a great plan to give my email / phone to people that I neither like nor trust.

    Any more clever thoughts?

  3. Re:one less day of junk mail by ApharmdB · · Score: 4, Informative · on US Postal Service Discontinuing Saturday Mail Delivery

    https://www.catalogchoice.org/ - I've been using the free part of the service for a while now and I get vastly less junk mail than I used to. Not having the extra volume to deal with is worth the time it takes to use the website.

  4. Re:And money changes hands... by VFA · · Score: 1 · on Adblock Plus To Offer 'Acceptable Ads' Option

    If you want to drastically reduce paper junk mail check out https://www.catalogchoice.org./ I had great success using that service. Stopped pretty much all of the numerous catalogs that just would not listen when I asked to stop sending crap. Now I get almost zero junk mail. Only supermarket circulars and home improvement store circulars. For some reason those can not be stopped even by god. Other than that, Ad-Block Plus is awesome and as long as it allows to go back to the way it was before by clicking a setting switch, then I am good with that. When I see a web page that is not filtered by Ad-Block (on other people's browsers) my head starts spinning and I am immediately overwhelmed by the BS. I will never buy anything from the obnoxious advertisers on principal. The only way to vote on this matter is with our wallets.

  5. Junk mail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1 · on USPS Ending Overnight First-Class Letter Service

    The USPS plan to fund their crazy generous pension plan is to increase the volume of junk mail. Being an important left wing constituency their contribution to the creation of unnecessary waste is downplayed.

    You can mitigate this nonsense here.

  6. Re:This man lives to his name by hedwards · · Score: 3, Interesting · on Geist Creates His Own Do-Not-Call List

    The ironic part is that the system actually sends out bulk e-mail in order to operate. Whether or not that is "SPAM" is open to interpretation. That would really depend whether or not the emails were solicited and whether or not they stopped when requested.

    Calling somebody should be considered consent so far as one is contacting the individual to opt out or inform them of the mistake. If the system only does that and stops after the notification is made then it isn't spam.

    The only tricky part is setting things up so that it isn't ripe for abuse. And ensuring that the system won't continuously churn out emails for requests that have already been completed.

    http://www.catalogchoice.org/ is a similar idea applied to catalogs. The site just sends opt outs, and in some cases opt ins when the person wants a new catalog, and they send a request to the business to stop sending more. The basic way that it's set up makes it advantageous for both sides.

    You have to give them your address and the name on the mailing, but it's just information which is already publicly available to the company to get the correct mailing stopped.
  7. Re:Initial versus second reaction by An+ominous+Cow+art · · Score: 1 · on Verizon Wireless Opt-Out Plan For Customer Records

    Both — the diminishing of privacy and the abundance of misdirected advertising — are bad, and it is not at all obvious (to me), which is worse.

    Remove the word 'misdirected' and I can agree.

    Why the fuck should the act of paying for cell phone service result in an increased amount of advertising junk mail being sent to you, "well-targeted" or not?
  8. Re:Initial versus second reaction by mi · · Score: 1 · on Verizon Wireless Opt-Out Plan For Customer Records

    You want a wide variety of other companies to know who you are calling and how long you are talking to them for, just to get better advertising?

    Both — the diminishing of privacy and the abundance of misdirected advertising — are bad, and it is not at all obvious (to me), which is worse.

    And the expectation of privacy of cellular calls (it is Verizon Wireless we are talking about) is unfounded. The calls aren't encrypted and, AFAIK, it would not be illegal to build and install devices collecting the dialed numbers and the durations of calls. Eavesdropping on the actual calls may be illegal (although still possible), but not collecting (and selling) the end-points' numbers and call-durations...