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DMA to Control Spam by DMA Members

Posted by michael on from the baby-steps dept.

SiliconLawyer writes: "The Direct Marketing Association, the major U.S. tradegroup for companies using direct marketing techniques, will reportedly issue guidelines for how its members may and may not use e-mail as a marketing tool. Hopefully, this will influence other marketers toward more responsible use of e-mail. Details are on CNET here."

6 of 204 comments (clear)

  1. Ya right by sllort · · Score: 4, Funny

    This has to be a hoax. Next thing I know you'll be posting a story about how Microsoft is going to "specialize in computer security".

    Har de har har.

  2. Spam control by archnerd · · Score: 4, Funny

    Two ideas for handling spammers, inspired by User Friendly:
    1. Next time you get a "501 compliant spam" that starts off with something like "This is not unsolicited bulk e-mail. Buy me.", flood their server with messages stating "This is not a denial of service attack."

    2. The following poem seems to work well:
    I got your mail and wrote you back
    just so that you'd have no doubt
    that if you spam me ever again
    your router shall cease to route

  3. Preview of the guidelines... by jmorse · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can just see those guidelines now:

    • When indiscriminately sending unsolicited email, please be sure to spoof the mail headers so the mail can't be traced back to you.
    • When mail-bombing the hotmail.com domain, please refrain from sending mail to billgates@hotmail.com or your software liscences may suddenly expire.
    • Please pre-pend the subject lines of all unsolicited email with the ADV: prefix...(uncontrolable laughter ensues)
    • When providing a fake "remove" link in an email, be sure that the address doesn't implicate your company or the DMA. remove262@yahoo.com usually works best.
    • When marketing to a technically-inclined demographic, refrain from inserting the phrase "ALL YOUR PRIVACY ARE BELONG TO US" in the email. It's not only distatsteful, it's downright cliche.

    --

    "You done taken a wrong turn."
    -Bill McKinney, in Deliverance
  4. It is funny... by UberOogie · · Score: 3, Funny
    When I read this, I feel exactly the same as when Microsoft said they were going to focus more on security...

    What do you think that means?

    --
    "Enough of this wretched, whining monkey life." -- Marcus Aurelius, _Meditations_, Book 9, 37
  5. Spam can be amusing... by Junta · · Score: 4, Funny

    I mean, my wife gets e-mails telling her to enlarge her penis and I get e-mail telling me to enlarge my breasts....

    --
    XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
  6. Hell, I LOVE Amazon.com "spam" by Gannoc · · Score: 3, Funny


    They only send me stuff I would want to see, I get it no more than maybe 1-2 times a week, and it often includes a $5 off coupon or something.

    Most of my bad spam is for absolute random crap or porn, with the same old line on the bottom informing me that the reason I'm being informed about all these Internet Cum Sluts is because I specificly requested to be spamed on their site or one of their partner's sites.

    Plus, the latest thing is dating the message 3-4 days back, so you have to scroll back on your inbox to read/erase the spam. It stops the instant deletes by hiding it.