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Another “Do Not Email” List Scam?
Posted June 29, 2004 – 7:17 pm by Yakov Shafranovich in Spam and EmailA friend of mine mentioned to me that he has been hearing radio advertisiments locally for a new “Do Not Email” List service called EthicalEmail.com. They claim to operate a do not email services based on the opt-out provisions of CAN-SPAM Act:
The process is simple. Email users can log onto ethicalemail.com and enter their email address. The addresses will then be compiled into a “do not contact” database. Mosele plans to deliver the database of names to the bulk email houses that are responsible for billions of emails being generated on the Internet. According to the law, the bulk email houses will have 10 days to remove those email names from their databases.
They also claim unique fingerprints and other techno mumbo-jumbo:
The government has decided not to create a “do not email list” out of fear that the lists will be used to create more Spam; however, ethicalemail.com’s databases will be specially coded giving them a unique fingerprint which will allow them to be traced if they are used to create more Spam.
Anyone familiar with the technology especially considering the three reports cited in the FTC Do Not Email list report, knows that this does not accomplish anything. It sounds like this is another scam, perhaps collecting addresses for spammers (since they don’t charge consumers like some other operations have).
It is interesting to note that the business man involved
with this venture “Rocky Mosele” was listed as a Vice President for the International Star Registry according to a Wired story:
The International Star Registry is not in the business of officially assigning star names; it is in the business of finding people willing to part with their money for a piece of paper that in a scientific sense means precisely nothing.
“We produce a good product, a fun product. We may have planted a seed with people, educated them even slightly about astronomy, about the stars,” said Rocky Mosele, vice president of marketing and advertising for ISR. “For people to say, ‘Well, it’s not official’ — I think people are OK that it’s not official. I’m sure of it. I know because customers call again and again and again.”
Yet a significant number of people believe that the naming of a star is an official activity. Is ISR’s star-naming business therefore a scam? No, not legally. The company promises to send you a piece of parchment, a booklet and a star map — and it delivers. It also promises to copyright your star’s new name and location in a book — and it does.
Judge for yourselves but to me this sounds like a scam.
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