Damned Spammers!

We've all been hit by them... whether it be adverts for penis enhancements, Viagara, slimming supplements or sites where women do interesting things for nothing more than your credit card number, and the debate about what is spam and what should and shouldn't be allowed has been going on for so long that this post will merely be a small fish in a large ocean. But that doesn't stop me from wanting to vent my spleen!

What set me off? Look at my previous post on Road Safety and you'll see a comment which, in my mind, is blatant Spam. If you follow the link you get to some hosting company's home page (in Spanish? I can't tell!) that has nothing to do with the post. I've had another one like that too... and I've said the same in response to both. I don't like Spam, I don't do business with Spammers and will urge others to follow my lead.

Why do I take this stand? It's easy really. I am a great fan of the Internet and the freedom it gives me to communicate with people around the world. It's a fantastic place for sharing ideas (and the odd rant!). It's largely without boundaries which makes it hard to censor. Ok, so we see more than our fair share of nut jobs on-line too but then they have as much right to free speech as the rest of us. Some might say that "Internet Marketing" is nothing more than free speech - but a line has to be drawn somewhere.

Putting banner ads on web pages might sometimes look messy, but then somebody has to pay for the servers, the routers, the cables and the software that runs the Internet. We can choose whether or not to visit those web pages though. It's like the adverts on TV... we don't pay any extra for them, in fact they actually pay for the programmes we watch. Or even billboard advertising... it might sometimes look messy but it doesn't cost us anything and doesn't get in the way of life.

Spam is more intrusive though... but very hard to define. Junk mail is, in effect, Spam. It arrives on your door mat with the regular mail and you sometimes have to be careful not to throw away something important. Unless you throw away the phone or credit card bill it's not going to cost you anything though. Email Spam is, on the other hand, different. I pay for my Internet connection so when I receive an email I am the one who pays for it. Why should this be allowed? The USA have a junk-fax law which prohibits the sending of unsolicited advertising via fax because the recipient has to pay for the paper... so why can't the same thing be true of the Internet? Doesn't it just make you mad.

As mentioned, "freedom of speech" is the mantra of the Internet marketers... but spam, pop-ups on web pages and people who post comments on blogs saying "come and visit my web site" are, in my mind, crossing the line. It's as if somebody has let themselves into my house and stuck their advertising messages to my living room wall or are standing in the garden shouting their messages with a megaphone. It's encroaching on my space... I didn't invite them to do so, it's invading my privacy... and I have zero tollerance for anybody who does that (just ask the Jehovas Witnesses who called around yesterday!).

What can we do about it though? Well, if you haven't heard about it already read about the Boulder Pledge. It's quite simple really... if somebody Spams you, don't do business with them. Never reply to an unsolicited email (except perhaps to complain to the sender's Internet Service Provider) and certainly never buy the product they're advertising. Also, be wary of where you leave your email address... ok, so you might want to know about the special offers from your local DIY store, but that doesn't automatically give them the right to give your email address to other companies... if that happens, complain once and if they don't respond or stop, then treat them the same way (and tell them so... B&Q have recently done this to me and so will no longer be getting my business, shame since they're so much better than Focus!).

Like those tacky stories in the Tabloids that "nobody wants to see", Spam only continues because people are stupid enough to buy into it. If we all stopped it might just go away... but people are just naturally curious so it will probably never stop!