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Is this legal or is it spam?

by mpluto
22 replies
Hey guys, quick question.

If I buy targeted email addresses (for example, email addresses or restaurant owners), it is legal to mass email them or would that be spam?

Have anyone done something like this?

Thanks!
#legal #spam
  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Originally Posted by mpluto View Post

    Hey guys, quick question.

    If I buy targeted email addresses (for example, email addresses or restaurant owners), it is legal to mass email them or would that be spam?

    Have anyone done something like this?

    Thanks!
    As the reaction above might suggest, it could be both.

    Contrary to popular belief, in the US, CAN-SPAM does not forbid Unsolicited Bulk Email or Unsolicited Commercial Email. It simply lays out the guidelines for doing so legally. Follow their guidelines (http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/comp...4.1.pdf‎) and you should be okay.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by mpluto View Post

    Is this legal or is it spam?
    As mentioned above, the two are not altogether mutually exclusive categories: something can be legal (under the Can-Spam regulations) but still be perceived by a proportion of its recipients and/or their email client software as "spam". This is just one of the reasons why open-rates for such a mailing are likely to be very much on the low side, why no autoresponder company will allow the importing and using of such lists, and why you might be taking a chance (regarding your domain-registration, hosting, and possibly even your internet connection) if you send out such mailings yourself, using a self-hosted autoresponder, when recipients hit the "spam" button in their email clients, and/or complain to third parties about having received your unsolicited mailing. There are some risks involved, and some potential traps await the unwary.

    So I'd say it's spam, but not necessarily illegal, per se.
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  • Profile picture of the author brutecky
    While I dont know the legal aspects, I would say that what your doing is, at least as far as most people are concerned, spam. This is basically the definition of spam. You are sending unsolicited emails. What you are doing is no different than the people who buy a list of physical home addresses and then send out 'junk mail'. You are sending emails to someone who did not ask to receive them. Basically you are a spammer.
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  • Profile picture of the author AndrewStark
    It's a bit like cold calling business owners. The information is freely available, but if you're just pitching to them it's going to annoy them and get you in trouble.

    Now if you send them an email that is specific to that business, and all you're doing is sending an electronic flyer for your business it is no different to walking into the premises and asking to speak to the manager.

    Hope that it works out for you.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by AndrewStark View Post

      It's a bit like cold calling business owners.
      It is, in one way; yes.

      In other ways, it's worse and riskier, and the conequences of disturbing people who aren't interested are much worse: when you do that by phone, although some countries have some laws about it, you're effectively not taking risks equivalent to those you take when you do it by email.
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      • Profile picture of the author China Newz
        If you do buy the list, and do email restaurant owners with a product they might be interested in, couldn't you include an opt out feature on your list? Or couldn't you just make a notation for them to contact you if they don't want to receive your emails? Wouldn't this cover your tail? Not a lawyer, nor am I familiar with spamming rules but this seems logical, reasonable, and practical.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    It depends entirely upon the nature of your lead acquisition.

    Meaning... If you buy it from some shady vendor it's illegal as hell.

    If you buy it from a legit co-reg provider it can be in the green.

    PS: I'm not a lawyer.

    But a few of my high school buddies are.

    My suggestion?

    Find your own if you're unsure.

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  • Profile picture of the author timpears
    I am so confused. Geeeeeez, you can rely on the Congress, when they do something to try and fix what they see as a problem, whether it is or is not, they generally screw it up. How in hell can you make heads or tails out of that law? You need a lawyer, and even then, you only have an opinion. You can still get in trouble if you follow it and someone comes along and decides to bring legal action against you.
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    Tim Pears

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  • Profile picture of the author vedremo
    Banned
    How many other people has the vendor sold the 'list'/scraped email addresses to? I don't think it'll be a quality list, even if it was this side of legal.

    If you're intention is to sell to these people, I don't think you'll have much luck either. A lot of people also know how to report unsolicited emails. If you met the restaurant owners in person, and talked about services you offer and then did a follow up email to that one restaurant owner, that would be a different story.

    But building a list is almost always a good idea. There are plenty of list building courses out there - I was very happy with Jim Cockrum's list building course.
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  • Profile picture of the author mpluto
    I think I'll just abandon the idea of emailing the list. I don't want to get my hosting and website shut down.
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    • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
      Originally Posted by mpluto View Post

      I think I'll just abandon the idea of emailing the list. I don't want to get my hosting and website shut down.
      Good idea. I think the mass mailing wouldn't be good (unless you're selling 500mg of Viagra... 30 pack ().

      There are better ways to market via email (and other ways) to a particular group of people. Invest your advertising funds into more proven and reliable ways of getting targeted traffic to your site.
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      • Profile picture of the author mpluto
        Originally Posted by Randall Magwood View Post

        Good idea. I think the mass mailing wouldn't be good (unless you're selling 500mg of Viagra... 30 pack ().

        There are better ways to market via email (and other ways) to a particular group of people. Invest your advertising funds into more proven and reliable ways of getting targeted traffic to your site.
        Agree, just hard to find legitimate solo ad of restaurant owners, for example...
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        • Profile picture of the author Fredbou
          The simple answer is that unless someone has signed up to be a part of your mailing list if you have a commercial operation (i.e. if you are selling something) and unless you are a charitable organization, or you have a prior commercial connection with the target, then you are spamming in almost every country of the World and can be blacklisted, shut down and fined incredibly huge amounts in some countries.

          When you do anything in this world, do it properly, honestly, with integrity. It might take you longer to succeed this way, but you will last much longer than the dishonest, the deceitful, the law breakers, the shysters, and the scammers.

          Make your choice.
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        • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
          Originally Posted by mpluto View Post

          Agree, just hard to find legitimate solo ad of restaurant owners, for example...
          It's going to be hard to find legit solo ads for just about any B2B product, as most of them don't spend their time trolling the Internet signing up for freebies and newsletters.

          A better bet would be to find the trade pubs they read and inquire about a list rental. When I was doing engineering design, there were a half dozen or so trade mags that we all subscribed to. The subscription cost was supposedly ~$199/yr each, but the "trade discount" was the same. These pubs ran on advertising and fulfilling those little info request cards.
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  • Profile picture of the author club20coaching
    Just get 3 email accounts and send no more than 10 per day per account. I would not ever recommend mass mailing to a unauthorized list. If they did not invite you than its pretty spammy... I would use social networks and have as person to person chat with the owner. Business networking is a more friendly approach for what you are aiming to do.
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    • Profile picture of the author mpluto
      Originally Posted by club20coaching View Post

      Just get 3 email accounts and send no more than 10 per day per account. I would not ever recommend mass mailing to a unauthorized list. If they did not invite you than its pretty spammy... I would use social networks and have as person to person chat with the owner. Business networking is a more friendly approach for what you are aiming to do.
      You mean LinkedIn and Facebook?
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  • Profile picture of the author ConnerHogan
    As a customer, spam. Take a look at if from their point of view.
    Someone emails them a product page that you didn't ask for.
    It is a little insulting. Why are you buying email address'?
    It is easy enough to get them for free.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ghoster
    Rule of thumb: If you didn't grow the list yourself through opt-ins, it's spam.

    It doesn't really matter if someone else did. The people opted in to receive messages from them, not you.
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    On the whole, you get what you pay for.

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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by Ghoster View Post

      Rule of thumb: If you didn't grow the list yourself through opt-ins, it's spam.

      It doesn't really matter if someone else did. The people opted in to receive messages from them, not you.
      Except for all those people who tick off the "I want to hear more about:" co-reg forms...

      In practical terms, though, the perception of spam may be more important than the legal definition. Which boils down to execution, as it usually does when navigating the gray areas.
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      • Profile picture of the author China Newz
        Maybe you should go to the horses mouth, the Federal Trade Commission, and ask one of their attorneys if what you are planning to do is illegal/spammy, instead of relying on the opinions of people that aren't attorneys. You might miss a good business opportunity.
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        China Newz is a blog introducing China's history, culture, people and places.

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