Thanks, Margie and Jonathan, for your very helpful comments. Below I have
posted the message I sent to this person. I'm not certain that I can
educate this little fish to be a big fish in his professional pond, but I
did think that the project was work pursuing. I'm posting it here so that
if anyone finds parts of it of value you can use it. Also, if I am
off-base on anything, I'll gladly receive the feedback. Let's all learn.
--------- My reply to the real estate professional ------
Thank you for deleting my email address from your list.
I suggest that you delete your whole list because it's contaminated. I
know for a fact that you did not get my address from any of the ways you
propose. There is *no* way to clean this list because it begins with
addresses from unknown sources. Collecting email addresses from newsgroups
and registries is spamming. You are sending out unsolicited bulk
commercial email. No one whose address you collected this way asked to be
on your list. You cannot now convert this into a verified Opt-in list.
Start fresh. Be a role model in your industry. You can advertise your
mailing list in your signature and on your web site. Talk about your list
and your services on newsgroups. Network. List yourself on directories.
Make personal contacts. Offer valuable information and people will come to
you.
Over the last eight years, I have developed six different Internet mailing
lists, without ever adding someone who did not SPECIFICALLY request to be
on the list. I handled my lists this way before I knew what a spam was
and, of course, long before spams clogged the Internet. It seemed the most
natural and respectful way to create a mailing list. Keep in mind that
people who do not want unsolicited email are the ones who are bearing the
cost.
Instead of your ISP asking you to ask me to withdraw the complaint, your
ISP should be advising you how to create a spam-free list. Your ISP should
be helping you to understand what a spam is and reprimanding you for
spamming.
There are many resources available on the Internet to assist you and your
ISP in becoming knowledgeable about spam, spam prevention, and list
management. Here are just a few:
http://www.cauce.org/
http://www.spamcop.net
http://mail-abuse.org/rbl/candidacy.html
http://mail-abuse.org/rbl/manage.html
http://www.topica.com
I cannot in good conscience remove the complaint at this time.
Regards,
(Signature)
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