Re: [Asrg] Another criteria for "what is spam"...

"Eric D. Williams" <eric@infobro.com> wrote:

 > Could you all and others please forward to me a brief definition of
 > what criteria you would consider for spam.

Short and sour: Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE).  To make a short story 
long:

- If it's solicited, it's certainly not spam.

- If it's not bulk, each one may be annoying, but at least it's not 
annoying as many people.  B-)  More to the point, if it's "lovingly 
handcrafted" Just For You, there are only so many people the sender can 
spare the time to bother with.  Therefore they almost certainly have a 
well-founded belief that you (as a specific individual, not a member of 
some demographic) would welcome it.  Therefore they are at least able to 
explain why.  They certainly should, so as to avoid being viewed (and 
reported) as spammers.  (Take the "same text to a bunch of different 
experts to ask them something for your thesis" scenario.  Send each 
expert a separate email.  Preface the question with how you legitimately 
obtained the expert's email.  Add some flattery re why his particular 
work makes him well suited to answer your question.  This would neither 
be (IMHO) spam, nor seem spammy, even though the main content is the 
same in several different messages.)

- If it's not email (such as snailmail, phone, or SMS), it may still be 
annoying, but should probably be considered as a separate problem.

- Some would say it must be commercial.  As someone else said, I've 
gotten religious, political, "come look at my k00l web site", and other 
forms of spam.

- Some would ask whether the headers (or other info, such as removal 
address) are faked.  Although a lot of UBE does have fakery, much of it 
also does not.  This sort of fraud is IMHO another separate question.

To contrast with UCE, consider this scenario.  I'm in a group called the 
SCA.  I participate in its newsgroup, rec.org.sca.  The SCA has a major 
annual event called Pennsic, to which I've been many times but have had 
to miss the past few.  If someone sent me:

 > Going to Pennsic?  Stop by Honest Achmed's, in the Food
 > Court.  Mention this email for a free felafel sandwich
 > and cup of sekanjabin.

I'd assume he simply harvested me from r.o.s and report him as a spammer.  
Note how he's treating me as part of a demographic, not an individual.  
BUT, if he sent me:

 > I see from your web site you're in the SCA, and have gone to
 > Pennsic many times but had to miss the past few.  I hope you
 > get a job soon, so you can afford to go, and one that will
 > let you go!  When you finally make it, stop by Honest
 > Achmed's, in the Food Court.  Mention this email for a free
 > felafel sandwich and cup of sekanjabin, so you can see what
 > you've been missing for the past two years.

I would not consider it spam, due to the references to things that are 
fairly specific to me.  Sure, it's possible that he's got a list of such 
people (and thus might be caught by quantity detectors), but still....

-- 
David J. Aronson, Unemployed Software Engineer near Washington DC
See http://destined.to/program/ for online resume, and other info

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