SPAM

Power Shift uses software that filters over 80,000 emails per day out of the stream coming through. While we could filter more vigorously, we have chosen not to, for one reason. Doing so would mean that many of our customers would not get all the email they DO want.

The little bit of spam that we get here, we deal with as follows:

  1. We use Outlook or Outlook Express to receive email, both of which allow for filtering of the mail that arrives through special "Rules." These are found and set up in the Tools menu, and allow you to filter mail based on the content of the subject, the sender, the body of the email, or any of a number of other potential options, and they further allow you to sift and sort mail into specific folders (for example, mail from a particular news group goes into a folder for that newsgroup, and everything else sits in the inbox), or delete it entirely (for example, anything with pornographic words in the subject or body of the email is automatically deleted).
  2. We never use our real email addresses when filling out a form, online. Many of these online forms serve no purpose but harvesting emails for a mailing list. Instead, we set up a free Hotmail account and use that address for filling forms out online. We check the Hotmail to get the information we want, but, by and large, we just leave it alone and let it accumulate the spam we never want to bother with.

Some other information on spam that may be of interest to you:

  1. Read the form you are filling out very carefully. There is often a checkbox, already checked for you, that reads something to the effect of "Check this box to receive special email offers from us." Because so many people have gotten used to simply unchecking the box at the bottom of an online form, the more clever (some might say sneaky) folks out there now have checkboxes that read "Uncheck this box to receive special email offers from us." Note the difference in the wording? Since the box is already checked, many people assume that they should go ahead and blindly uncheck it. Thus, they sign themselves up to get mail they didn't want in the first place. So, be careful and pay attention.
  2. What many consider spam actually is not. This is related to the point above. There may be wording to the effect of sharing information with similar third-party companies, and a disclaimer that states that this company is not responsible for what the similar third-party companies do. Additionally, you might not be able to enter that sweepstakes to win the VW NewBeetle if you don't agree to receiving mailings. If you agree, however you agree, you have signed yourself up for perfectly legal mass emailings.
  3. This brings us to a third point. As long as you can "Unsubscribe" yourself or opt out of a mail list, you are not receiving spam, unless you unsubscribe yourself and the same person (not company, not subject) keeps sending you the same email. Unsubscribing, though, does two things:
    1. Removes you from that one specific person's mailing list for that one specific email.
    2. Validates your email address so that he may put it on a confirmed list and sell that confirmed list to other mass email marketers for a lot of money.

    Once that address is confirmed, there is absolutely nothing to prevent your email address being sold to several "similar third-party companies" for which the people you originally requested email from are not responsible. In other words, the respectable company you asked to receive email from may sell the confirmed list to a less respectable person, who may in turn sell the list to a porn site.
  4. If spam has become particularly odious in your life, you basically have one option left: Change your email address, tell the people you like what the new one is (ignore the people you don't like), set up a free email address for use on online forms, and never, EVER, give out your real email address online. Period.
  5. Another idea that you may wish to follow up is to contact your Senators and Congressmen. Sending faxes unsolicited is illegal, so, why is sending unsolicited email legal? Perhaps reminding them that you are concerned about the volume of bulk email you get will help them add this issue to their agenda.