Merchants: Stop the SPAM!

[Melita Magic]

No, I'm not going to say "please." I'm sick to death of this SPAM.

Not forum spam - the Mods do a great job clearing that up. 

Second Life in world merchant SPAM. I'm so sick of having my email inbox cluttered to bursting with it. 

Look, if I did not sign up for your subscription list, then do not subscribe me. Period! Just because I walked into your shop (maybe by accident) does NOT mean you can fill my IM box so that my necessary IMs or even objects cap - It does not mean you can fill my email inbox with IMs that came while I was offline. So that I miss necessary emails at times because of this.

Especially if one has more than one avatar, one winds up spending minutes each day finding and deleting this garbage before one can read one's own email or IMs that were actually wanted or necessary. Just STOP!

One animation shop even has it in their land that simply by going there "you agree to be on my mailing list." Now how can we possibly agree when we didn't even read that until we got there? Other places I haven't bought anything in, or been to in over a year, also send me spam. They place the onus on ME to get hold of them somehow and then hope and pray they stop. Again if someone has more than one avatar this is sometimes multiplied as well. 

SPAM IS ILLEGAL in some countries, and by sending spam to someone's IM box you ARE sending it to their email as well. ILLEGALLY. JUST STOP!

Thank you I ALMOST feel better now...

Received this morning, to my email from IM (which setting I must do for other reasons), and I have no clue why:

(Identifiers removed)



Yesterday I was busy putting Facebook and Twitter buttons on our website - so we can feel totally modern and up to date :-)
While doing this, I thought it would be nice to have something like that for our inworld locations too: connect all those cool places you have created with friends from other social networks to get them off their couches and into our places. Here's what I came up with - just rez in your stores and clubs, if you 'like'! Have a great one - yours, (REMOVED)
[15:54] (BOT NAME REMOVED): This service is provided by (REMOVED). You are receiving this message because you either signed up to our mailinglist or bought a product in our shop or marketplace in the past. If you don't want to receive further messages, click this link or copy it to your browser: (REMOVED) or simply send a message to (REMOVED).

[Paladin Pinion]

I know exactly what you mean. I usually send a terse and pointed note to the person and then mute them.

Actually, what I'd really like to do is start sending them replies, every day, automatically. The IM would explain that by sending me unsolicited IMs, they have agreed to be on my mailing list.

[Solar Legion]

Ah yes, someone complaining about what they believe is spam ....

You do know that there are still companies out there that hand out or sell your e-mail address .... and they often do not explicitly warn you of this fact?

You are also aware that it is not against the ToS to set up a scripted item/bot which reacts to the presence of a nearby avatar by recording their name and possibly sending out a message at a later date? You visited the shop - that is all that is required according to the ToS.

Now then, instead of complaining and getting indignant over being sent a message concerning a shop you visited, either IM the owner and ask to be removed from the list .... or mute the object/bot.

By the by? Spam is defined as unsolicited mail/messages/calls, usually from a business. Like I said, you visited their shop .... Not spam until you ask them to cease and they continue to send. 

[Ceka Cianci]

i wonder if we would get muted by them if they sent us one of these adds then did the same thing back to them sending them one or maybe 3 for every one they sent us about something stupid like..

Bot: Ceka  we have a great deal on this brand new car we just put on the floor for only 99L$

Ceka bot: oh that sounds like a really neat item..i have a new scab on my butt from falling out of my car..don't you hate when that happens?just not in the mood to buy a car today..oh wait someone just drove by in their loud Azz truck so you may not have heard me..i'll resend..but before i do..have you seen STORM and know if he has my pic or not?..me and my hubby 2 b are hunting him down..

[Paul Hexem]

"Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems (including most broadcast media, digital delivery systems) to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately." From wikipedia.

 

Therefore, having your bot send bulk messages indiscriminately to everyone that might (I stress might, because I get signed up for crap daily while driving the mainland roads, because their sensor range is set too far. I AR those types.) have visited your store in the last year, that never signed up for it, is spam.

 

But, the advice to send a note and then mute is good, either way.

[Solar Legion]

You have, apparently, never signed up for anything at all using your cell phone or the internet in general.

"Unsolicited" requires the "spam" to be sent in what would be the digital equivalent of a "cold-call".

A bot/greeter with its sensor range set too high? Yes - that ought to be ARed as you never once visited the store.

However, if you did  visit a shop in SL, the message sent is no long "unsolicited".

To use another, offline example: By the definition the OP uses and going by the wiki definition, all television commercials can be classified as spam.

Yet no one has ever dared to do such.

The principle is pretty much the same: Like I said, it becomes spam after you've made it clear that you do not wish further advertisements/messages.

Mind, I'm adamant on this for the simple reason that I am sick and tired of just about every communication anyone ever sends for any reason on the net as well as in SL being called "spam" 

[Pussycat Catnap]

Abuse report it. Every single instance of it.

Spamming unsolicited is against ToS and in violation of US 'CAN SPAM' laws.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN-SPAM_Act_of_2003

- which have specific rules over how one can spam someone.

 

[Phil Deakins]

---

Solar Legion wrote:

By the by? Spam is defined as unsolicited mail/messages/calls, usually from a business. Like I said, you visited their shop .... Not spam until you ask them to cease and they continue to send. 

---

Wrong. Visiting a shop does *not* constitute permission to send communications. Sending IMs/emails solely because somebody visited a place is spam.

[Phil Deakins]

---

Solar Legion wrote:

However, if you

did

 visit a shop in SL, the message sent is no long "unsolicited".

Mind, I'm adamant on this for the simple reason that I am sick and tired of just about every communication anyone ever sends for any reason on the net as well as in SL being called "spam" 

---

You can be as "sick and tired" as you like but visiting a place does not constitute an agreement to receive communications from the place. The word "solicited" means "asked and agreed". Unsolicited means the opposite. Walking into a place is neither asking nor is it the person agreeing. You are wrong.

[Pussycat Catnap]

---

Solar Legion wrote:

 

However, if you

did

 visit a shop in SL, the message sent is no long "unsolicited".

---

Can spam laws require specific opting IN. Not opt out.

"A message cannot be sent to a harvested email address"

Applicable to online commercial speach:

"any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service (including content on an Internet website operated for a commercial purpose)."

 

Out-outs -AND- a physical RL address are required as well. Which creates a muddy area for SL...

 Its quite possible that LL's adfarm policy - which itself forbids unsolicited spam, was made not in response to user outcry over all the spam that used to be prevalent in SL, but someone in legal pointing out that LLs would not want to come under scrutiny of the CAN-SPAM act.

 

[Suella Ember]

Couldn't agree more Melita. 

If I didn't explicitly request to be on your list, then don't put me on it. If I did explicitly request to be on your list, but later decide I don't want to be on it, make it easy for me to unsubscribe. It's simply good business practice and, more to the point, common courtesy.

Sadly, I suspect we are speaking on deaf ears. Good business practice and common courtesy are lacking in business, not just in SL but in RL too where email spam, postal spam and cold calling is all too common. Most sad of all is that the only reason why they continue to do it is because they get a few who fall for it and do business with them.

To some extent, we should also be angry at those who continue to do business with spammers becuase if every single one of us stopped doing business with them, they wouldn't exist. So here's my call to eveyone who has a sense of decency and common courtesy about them too:

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH SPAMMERS!

 

[Ceka Cianci]

 

if it wasn't for spam we would never have this kind of important stuff that makes fun of it..

 

[Rage Riptide]

Maybe it's in the works that this will happen in RL too. All you're Facebook belong to us will use all the info they can and you may find a message on your phone when you walk near that store you mentioned on FB. Geolocation is a powerful thing.

ETA: Smart phones are like you are carrying  llallAboutMe(everywhere)

[Anaiya Arnold]

I got one last night from a store I had never been to before, never done business with, and which claimed I could unsubscribe by using the group kiosks in their store.  I looked for over an hour and cannot find a single subscriber, group joiner, group kiosk or anything else that would let me "unsubscribe".  That's a store I will never be doing business with ever.  Screw the spam-cows.

 

@ Solar, "unsolicited" requires that the particular contact not be solicited by the person being contacted.  Visiting a store is not soliciting for messages to be sent.  You can check this for yourself by looking up the definition of "solicit", and if still in doubt the definition of "visit".

[Darrius Gothly]

Solar, just in case no one else has pointed this out:

Section 8.3 paragraph ii of the ToS states:

(You will not) Post or transmit unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, or promotional materials, that are in the nature of "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation that Linden Lab considers to be of such nature;

The Catch-22 here is that last phrase "Linden Lab considers". Just because the recipient of the unsolicited material deems it to be spam does not mean LL does. However, a plethora of AR's citing the sender of spamming will most likely help convince LL that it is spam.

Crucial to the determination is the method by which someone winds up on the sender's list. Two examples are in order. The first is the simple act of walking into a store or parcel; the second is purchasing something from a Merchant. In the former case, majority sentiment leans toward this not qualifying as soliciting or approving communication, whereas the latter example is commonly seen to qualify as solicited communications. However both of these situations fail the "willful consent" test as there was no explicit opt-in process (question and answer).

Because of the "wiggle room" in the ToS, it is up to the Merchant to interpret it however they choose. LL will react to (and take action against) particularly obnoxious cases, but in those cases where the Merchant is not reprimanded by LL, they should at least be aware that their communications are doing more damage than good.

I read the OP as an earnest (and exasperated) attempt to communicate that there are limits to the shopper's patience and tolerance, and that some Merchants quite clearly disregard the feelings of their shoppers. IMO a Merchant that does not respect or even consider the customer's perspective is a Merchant that is also prone to poor customer support, customer hostile responses and in general a method of doing business that drives away business.

While a flurry of AR's may indeed get LL to take action, it seems that a much better response would be to notify every one of your friends of how selfish and ignorant the sender is .. and ask that they tell all their friends too. And it wouldn't hurt to drop the sender a quick notecard explaining why their business is being boycotted too.

[Melita Magic]

Thank you for all of the replies. Much appreciated.

I see that most people here 'feel my pain.' It has really gotten way out of control.

Unsolicited vs. solicited is pretty clear in my view: If I click on something asking to be sent ads and promotions (they usually hook you in by promising free gifts - some of which never deliver) and there is a button on that same prim that allows a quick unsubcription in case I clicked in error (was looking for a sale item's prim let's say) or change my mind, then fair play. That qualifies as solicited maliing list.

If I drove down a road, boated 50 meters away from your shop (or whatever length), flew into your shop sometimes by accident, bought something once, more than a year ago, or have never bloomin' heard of you or your shop and have no idea how I got in your crosshairs, then NO, that is NOT solicitation to spam the beejeebers out of me. I do not need to get a note card full of jpgs every time you draw a line in Photoshop. (Name brands, that goes for you, too!)

I didn't know there was such a clear TOS ruling against it and I will make a practice of ARing it from now on. In cases where I did once shop there, I will give a polite note card a go, wait a week and then AR it. Enough is enough.

 

Really. Enough.

[Limonella Sorbet]

I'm gonna start sending the junk right back to them. Watch them complain.

[Mayalily]

I only get alets inworld from one person, Larry Jeans, 'cuz I want updates from Larry Jeans.  I always hit decline to everything, but after looking around make take a landmark.  No inworld I get no spam, but you are saying my email is full of spam?  Well, too bad, 'cuz I don't use email for that very reason.

If someone is a merchant, they should make an alt and just visit their store to avoid the spam.  Then the spam will be sent to their other email.

I'm afraid to look in my email now as I have no idea what's in there.  I can't stand spam, so I don't use email.  I really have no need to at this point in time because I don't need a business account.  I've decided to use the phone when I want to talk to someone, and I'm not interested in reading a lot of links that people would send me anyhow, such as watch this funny video.  That takes too much time away from RL.  Facebook is better to visit for that type of thing.  If you want to see someone's video, they can put it on facebook.

I hate email because of the spam and it's too time consuming. 

ETA:  I just quit email because in one email account I had over 3,000 spam posts to delete.  I said to myself, I'm not doing this, and said goodbye to email and decided to use the phone or send a card in the snail mail.  We do have one email account that my rl bf clears out because that email is for emergency family use.  I don't like to even visit his email.  I let him handle the email because he likes email.  As for me, phone or a card or visit Facebook. 

[Pussycat Catnap]

---

Rage Riptide wrote:

Maybe it's in the works that this will happen in RL too. All you're Facebook belong to us will use all the info they can and you may find a message on your phone when you walk near that store you mentioned on FB. Geolocation is a powerful thing.

---

This is kind of why Facebook has been finding itself in front of Congressional hearings of late... They may or may not be in violation of the Can spam act and other privacy laws.

 

[Melita Magic]

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Mayalily wrote:

 I always hit decline to everything, but after looking around make take a landmark.  No inworld I get no spam, but you are saying my email is full of spam?  Well, too bad, 'cuz I don't use email for that very reason.

If someone is a merchant, they should make an alt and just visit their store to avoid the spam.  Then the spam will be sent to their other email.

---

I admire your no-email-address policy in the same way I admire those who have no television or no credit card. Admirable, unique, but I'm not sure how you make it in today's world.

Doing without email or only shopping or exploring Second Life on an alternate account seems a bit drastic simply to avoid Second Life merchant spam. It seems much easier if they would simply stop spamming anyone whose name they catch on a faint breeze.

I didn't understand your second paragraph.

Thanks again to everyone for the contributions and ideas.

[Mayalily]

I think I'm lucky I guess because my rl bf deals with the spam on our emergency family email.  He deletes; I don't have too.

There's also text now, so don't need email, except maybe for Ebay, because there is Facebook also to look up someone's new photos of their baby for instance, without having to open all that email and having to sort through all that spam. Facebook is faster and less time consuming to see new photos or their videos, etc. 

In my second paragraph, from what I got from this thread, is that there is a lot of spam in the email account I set up to use for SL (which is NOT our emergency family email).  What I'm saying is that I have never revisited that email ever since I started SL and I'm not even sure what's in there?  I thought I'd go and look and report back to this thread just how many emails there are in that SL email account since I've NEVER looked in that SL email account I created just for SL.

Since this spam is autogenerated, I brought up the idea of if you are a creator/merchant, you could get an alt and just visit your own store to avoid the autogenerated spam.  I brought this up because I thought you might be a merchant, and how could you get your business done with all that spam?  It would be difficult. 

/me going to check that SL email and see how many spams are in there. 

With that one email account I had over 3,000 spam posts to delete and I just wasn't going to sit there and delete over 3,000 spam posts.  So, I decided to give up.  I can't stand email anymore.  If I were a merchant tho, I'd need an email, I'd gather? 

ETA:  Nope, can't access that email at this time because I thought I remembered the password, but it says wrong password.  I'd need to do a password search to retrieve that password.  Geez, I thought I remembered it.  Anyhow, I never had any intention of ever going back to that email account I started, which is just for SL.  It's password hunt time for me when I get some time. 

[Dillon Levenque]

---

Solar Legion wrote:

Ah yes, someone complaining about what they believe is spam ....

You do know that there are still companies out there that hand out or sell your e-mail address .... and they often do not explicitly warn you of this fact?

---

Yes. And in fact by definition any message I get from anyone to whom they've given my email address is SPAM.

 

---

By the by? Spam is defined as unsolicited mail/messages/calls, usually from a business. Like I said, you visited their shop .... Not spam until you ask them to cease and they continue to send. 

---

Baloney. My visiting a shop does not give permission for the shop to send me messages. Any message I'm sent for which I did not ask (by joining a group, subscribing, etc.) is an unsolicited message. SPAM.

 

Edited for too many prepositions.