1. I would like a listing of message forums where people who send bulk
email converse and exchange questions/ideas about their business
practices and methods. I consider myself fairly literate with search
engine usage and have not been able to find anything worthwhile. I
understand that most of the people who send unsolicited email do not
follow the law and probably do not take up an interest in online
exchanges, however I am guessing there might me a marketing forum
where people actively discuss this topic.

2. I would like information on what the best methods are currently
(data from 2004 or 2005 so that the information takes into account the
Can Spam act) for sending unsolicited bulk email. Whether it pays to
outsource mailings to third party vendors who specialize in sending
your mail to their lists or whether you are better off building up the
infrastructure and doing everything in house.

3. There is a provision in the Can Spam act which disallows the usage
of email harvesting programs. Actually, it disallows sending messages
to email address acquired using harvesting programs. It is known that
nearly 100% of unsolicited mail is sent out to addresses acquired
using these programs. There is a new effort called projecthoneypot.org
which attempts to entrap email harvesters and their operators. I am
looking for articles or discussions that specifically discuss these
issues and the potential impact they will have on the bulk email
industry (if you can call it that).

4. What methods can be used to verify the business practices of a
company hired to send out bulk email to their proprietary email lists?
Are there certain larger companies which are considered to be more
reputable than others?

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 21 Feb 2005 18:39 PST

Hello Jay,

Even though your four questions are clearly related, they are distinct
enough that you may want to consider posting each of them as a
separate question.

Researchers are often hesitant to tackle multi-part questions, since
experience has shown us that it is often difficult for one person to
provide high-quality answers for each and every part.

Just a suggestion...

pafalafa-ga

One possible reason why you can't find this sort of thing is because
the few actualy spammers (most spam comes from only a few sources) are
so widely hated that, when they aren't being prosecuted criminally or
sued by various companies, they sleep with automatics under their
pillow for fear that someone will identify them (actually that is not
an exaggeration, it is a quote from a spammer.)

At least one spammer in Australia was identified in a local paper and
had to not only quit spamming but take his entire family into hiding
because of the death threats.

Using someone else's list could put you at great legal risk since you
don't know if the members of the list have asked to be included.

The bottom line is that spam costs companies and small businesses
billions of dollars in lost productivity and you might want to
consider a different way to promote a legitimate business.

Just my opinion, that's why it is a comment.

I'm one of the developers behind Project Honey Pot. We're working with
legitimate marketers to help them understand when the lists they've
using have been obtained illegally. We'd be happy to help you
understand the issues and risks inherent to harvesting if you contact
us through the form at:

http://www.projecthoneypot.org/contact_us.php

It is worth noting that harvesting is not only illegal in the United
States. In fact, a Canadian privacy commission just ruled that it is
also illegal under Canadian privacy laws. See:

http://www.ottawabusinessjournal.com/282670852141876.php