The BadAds Weblog

Brussels Says Yes to Spam

The following article is reprinted with permission from The Spamhaus Project. The European Union is struggling over what kinds of laws (if any) to impose against spam, and is leaning towards legalizing the "opt-out" method, whereby it's the consumer's responsibility to ask every spammer to remove his or her address from the spammer's mailing list. Under this law, every spammer has the right to bombard you with advertising until you take action against it. This is instead of the more acceptable "opt-in" method, where e-mail marketers must get the consumer's approval before sending advertising.

The officials you can write to about this problem are listed at the end of the article.

BRUSSELS SAYS YES TO SPAM

An EU report released in February estimated that dealing with spam now costs Internet users and service providers 6 billion Euros per year and is seriously damaging e-commerce worldwide. Despite this, a small group of European Members of Parliament with no knowledge of email technology or any experience of dealing with spam themselves, approved the ill-conceived "Cappato" report and pushed forward legislation to encourage and legalize spamming.

Spamhaus talked to the two main MEPs behind the "Cappato" report, the Italian MEP Marco Cappato and British MEP Michael Cashman. The justifications they gave us for promoting spam were not just borne out of a complete lack of understanding of the issues and technologies involved, they were bewildering in their misconceptions to the point of sheer stupidity.

Marco Cappato began by stating that spam is on the decline in the US therefore it is "not a problem." Spamhaus replied that far from being "in decline,, spam was actually accelerating at a faster pace than ever. Cappato explained that, regardless, spam could be filtered out by using an email's Subject line to determine if an email was spam or not. Spamhaus explained that the Subject line was not part of the Internet's email transmission protocol (SMTP) and that the Subject could only been seen once a spam had already been received into the user's mailbox. Cappato then explained that he uses Hotmail and that on Hotmail he can see the message's Subject before reading it therefore he could simply "press delete" if it looked like spam. Cappato said that Hotmail conveniently filters spam into a separate "junk" folder for him and that this (filtering) is what all European ISPs and all European firms with mail servers must do.

Spamhaus explained that Hotmail is a web-based system and that the spams being diverted into his "junk" folder weren't going there by magic but because Hotmail has a strong anti-spam team dedicated to filtering spam 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Spamhaus further explained that Europe's millions of corporate email servers do not work like Hotmail and that Hotmail itself was being overwhelmed by the volume of incoming spam.

Spamhaus told Cappato that the current volumes of spam meant that too many European Internet users are already being forced to press delete all day - and asked Cappato how many spams per day did he personally regard as his limit for pressing delete - and how would he prevent more spams arriving after that daily limit was reached. That question was not answered.

Spamhaus finally explained to Marco Cappato that the ever-increasing volumes of spam mean that not only do the problems and ever-mounting costs of dealing with it have to be passed on to consumers, but that his own Hotmail mailbox actually has a finite capacity which each incoming spam was using up. Once his mailbox's capacity was reached, correspondence from his colleagues, family and friends would then be lost (bounced). But when Spamhaus.org's email telling Cappato this arrived at his Hotmail account it was bounced back by the Hotmail system because Cappato's mailbox had already exceeded its storage allocation due to already being so full of spam.

We later learned that Cappato's political party, the Italian Radical party, had sent out spams to millions of Italian users advertising the Radical political party, and that these spams had been commissioned and approved by...Marco Cappato.

Next Spamhaus spoke (by email) to the pro-spam British MEP responsible for pushing the UK side of the opt-out legislation--Michael Cashman MEP. If Cappato was clueless, Cashman proved even more so. Ignoring that spam was theft of service and unwanted by almost all Internet users, Cashman insisted that spam provides "potentially useful information" and told Spamhaus that "much spam is sent as part of responsible marketing campaigns" and that "E-mail is the easiest form of communication from which to opt out. Recipients need only press reply and type 'unsubscribe.'" Finally Cashman stated that because so much spam was coming into the UK from Europe and the US, spamming must be allowed in the UK or else UK spammers would be at a commercial disadvantage.

You can reach Marco Cappato MEP at mcappato@europarl.eu.int or mcappato@hotmail.com.

You can reach Michael Cashman MEP at mcashman@europarl.eu.int.

November 23, 2001

Ad Screens in Your Face

TV screens blaring ads have popped up in elevators, on public transportation, and in stores. The latest place where ads get in your face? Mall-based video arcades, theater lobbies, and Blockbuster video outlets. Companies that advertise in these venues are hoping to grab the attention of young consumers with "loose change in their pockets and a surprising amount of disposable income," according to Media Life Magazine.

Companies that are taking advantage of this form of intrusive advertising include New Line Cinema, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Universal, Artisan Entertainment, Destination Films and USA Films, NBC, ABC, CBS, USA, the WB, the Cartoon Network, Food Network, Turner Broadcasting, Mattel, Nintendo, Titus, UbiSoft, Activision, Blue Byte, Lucas Arts, Electronic Arts, Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods, Lego, Nike, and the Coast Guard. If you'd like to contact any of these companies, you can find their contact info here.

The company that's responsible for placing and running these ads is Channel M. You can contact them here:

Eric Hebel
11734 Gateway Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90064
310-231-5124
Fax: 310-231-7548
erich@channelm.com

If your local movie theater is bombarding you with video ads, you can find their contact info here.

Finally, you can write to Blockbuster and ask them to remove the ad screens from their stores:

Blockbuster - McKinney Headquarters
Customer Service
3000 Redbud Boulevard
McKinney, Texas 75069
972-683-5959
customercare@shop.blockbuster.com

November 19, 2001

Trashed Ads

We often think that some ads belong in the trash. But how about ads ON the trash?

Trash cans are no longer just a place to put your litter. Thanks to AdBrite, they're now also backlit, revolving, full-color intrusive ads.

With these trash cans, advertisers are hoping to peddle their wares in formerly ad-free spaces. "I think the greatest pull is going to be being able to go inside venues and areas where no other traditional forms of advertising exist and where everybody is going to be during the day," says Jason Kiefer, media director for Outdoor Vision in New York City.

Please contact AdBrite and let them know what you think of their product.

Caesar Passannante
AdBrite
281 Fields Lane
Brewster, New York 10509
Toll-Free: 866-232-7483
Phone: 845-277-8010
Fax: 845-277-0811
info@adbrite.com

November 12, 2001

Vote for Me and Drink More Gin!

Las Vegas is already the butt of many jokes for its non-stop gambling palaces, cheesy music shows, and quickie marriage chapels, but apparently Mayor Oscar Goodman feels the city hasn't sunk quite low enough.

To remedy that problem, Mayor Goodman recently met with executives from Allied Domecq--owner of the Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin-Robbins and Togo's fast food chains--to consider becoming a spokesman for Beefeater gin. Goodman said that all proceeds would go to the city to make up for a shortage in tourist revenue.

In an article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Goodman said, "We are in different times. We have to think out of the box. We have to look for ways to replenish the well."

Hmm, so every public appearance by this elected official would become a de facto sales pitch for liquor? Sounds more like poisoning the well to us.

If you disagree with the commercialization of public offices, contact Mayor Goodman and let him know. Write to Allied Domecq as well to let them know their efforts aren't appreciated. And don't forget to CC us on your letters for the chance to win an ad-free, logo-free BadAds t-shirt!

Mayor Oscar Goodman
400 East Stewart Ave.
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Phone: 702-229-6241
Fax: 702-385-7960
E-mail: mayor-ogoodman@ci.las-vegas.nv.us

Allied Domecq The Pavilions Bridgwater Road Bedminster Down Bristol BS13 8AR United Kingdom Phone: +44 (0)117 978 5000 Fax: +44 (0)117 978 5300 Online feedback form

November 8, 2001

Street Spam Begone!

If your town is like most towns, your utility poles are covered with signs urging you to "Make Money Fast," "Lose Ten Pounds," or "Work from Home." Not only are these signs illegal in some states, but they intrude upon the beauty of your town with their blatant advertising. (We're not talking about yard sale signs or homemade signs put up by local painters and real estate agents here, but those slick plastic signs erected by seeming scam artists.)

As these ugly ads proliferate, more and more people are taking action against them. Two Web sites (so far) are dedicated to fighting what is commonly known as "street spam":

Ugly Litter

Citizens Against Ugly Street Spam

We urge you to remove these signs wherever you see them. One BadAds reader wrote in to describe a handy device he created to remove signs that are nailed high up on the pole:

A few years ago I got sufficiently annoyed at a sign nailed to a utility pole on the way to work that I figured out a way to take care of it. I knew it was illegal advertising, and that the municipal authorities weren't going to do anything about it. The sign was tough corrugated plastic and virtually impossible to tear out from under the large-head nails attaching it to the wood pole. In addition, it was mounted up out of reach. I happened to have a ball joint separator which is like a wedge-shaped tuning fork, and a thin-walled tube that fit fairly nicely over the handle for an extension, with duct tape to hold them together. That did the trick very nicely.

A ball joint separator is a tool available in any automotive parts store for less than $10. When you see it you will realize why it is so ideal for this purpose. A pipe extension for the handle should be available from a hardware store, but anyone adept with duct tape should be able to manage the extension."

Now get out there and take a stand against street spam! This is one way you can personally make a dent in the ad clutter that surrounds us.

Please write to us and let us know what you've done to stamp out street spam.

November 5, 2001

Back to the Main Page

Get the BadAds Weblog updates via e-mail! We'll keep you up-to-date on news in intrusive advertising, changes to BadAds.org, and new ways you can fight "ad creep."

You are the
[an error occurred while processing this directive] visitor
to draw the line on
intrusive advertising.

sunny-clams knoll Feel free to reprint
any of the text on
this site - just
include a link to
www.BadAds.org.

- - - - - - - - -
Web design
by NewsJobs.Net
Perl CGI & HTML Code
by LServ