On Fri, 3 May 2002, Paul Vixie wrote:
> > I hate to sound like the big idiot here, but what exactly in the email
> > you received indicates no-ip.com spammed? It looks to me like you just
> > have some secret "admirer" who thought you wanted a no-ip.com account,
> > and no-ip.com emailed you to confirm that you do want the account.
>
> spam is like pollution in that (a) whenever you're not sure if you're
> doing it, you probably are, and (b) if everybody did whatever it is,
> life would be universally worse for, well, everybody.
>
> > Random disclaimer: Yes, we're a competitor of no-ip.com's... And yes, we
> > used to send similar emails to people signing up for an account,
> > although nowadays instead of sending them an initial password we send a
> > confirm URL instead.
>
> that's the right approach. no-ip's problem was they presumed my permission.
>
You don't even have to be in the "big idiot" league to figure out that in
both the "wrong" and the "right" approach as sanctioned above by a higher
authority, an email message (aka spam) is sent to the presumed subscriber.
One sends a password, one asks for permission to issue a password on their
site. What's the difference in the annoy factor, if indeed one were to be
subscribed by a secret "admirer"?
Mr. Halmu chose to think, rather than bindly obey...
--Mitch
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