Readers letter-anti spam protest.

From Jeff Barnes, Vice President Int. Blue Sreak

Although I agree that there need to be tighter restraints against spammers and fully support the EU Directive passed in December, it may actually be legitimate email marketers that get caught in the anti-spam net.

Anti-spam filters, introduced by ISP's such as AOL place considerable constraints on genuine marketers who are simply sending information to customers who they believe to have 'opted in' to their service. Although the email is legitimate, the recipient may not remember 'opting in' to the service, their details may have been provided by a list broker, or they may not recognise the company or brand that has sent the email. To avoid any further nuisance (as they sec it) the recipient may report the email to their ISP as SPAM--an action that could damage the reputation of the company and the brand dearly

To avoid this, marketers need to build their own in-house 'opt in' email lists that they continually manage and maintain--by recording and tracking the permission history of each individual customer and maintaining constant dialogue and contact with 'opt-in' customers, ensuring they don't forget they have 'opted in'

As well as creating an in-house 'opt-in' list, marketers also need an 'opt-out' button for customers who (at any time) do not wish to receive any further emails. This ensures marketers always work from an updated list, eliminating the danger of targeting unhappy customers. http://www.bluestreak.co.