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German Court: "Sharing" Your Amazon Purchases Is Spamming (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A court in Germany has ruled that the 'Share' links which Amazon provides to customers directly after making a purchase at the site are unlawful. The "Share" functionality provides buttons which allow the consumer to signal a new purchase via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or email. The court, ratifying an earlier decision made at a lower court, declared that emails initiated via the Share function constitute "unsolicited advertising and unreasonable harassment."
What do the emails look like? Is there any "speech" from the user, or do they just plug in an email address and amazon does all the "speaking"?
While I'm sure Germany has laws that allow people to speak their minds, It's probably not like the United State's First Amendment which at times doesn't apply either in cases of libel or slander.
Personally I think people should be allowed to use the quick one-button solution. It let's me know who I can unfriend/unfollow for being a prat.
But who I am kidding, most user generated content on social media sites isn't much better than this spam. I hope the kill off the rest of the "share to x" buttons out there because there's plenty of other crap beyond just Amazon or online retailers.
I had a great idea for a Facebook replacement, but it turns out there's already plenty of prior art for meeting at a pub and having a beer with friends so I don't think I can get a patent.