Opinion

Is There Ever an Ethical use for Spam?

Selling without selling out

By David H. Holtzman

When that happens, consider thinking through your approach ethically rather than legally. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

Here are some guidelines for so-called ethical spam usage:

* Use opt-in for each form of communication and for each subject area.

* Offer real value when communicating with customers.

* Make it easy for customers to get off the list if they inadvertently end up on it.

* Factor the inconvenience or cost to the recipients into your decision.

* If you do it anyway, batten down the hatches and prepare for retaliation. The Internet community has a long history of aggressive responses to commercial intrusiveness.

A good way to approach the problem is to think about it as a trade-off between providing a legitimate benefit to the customer evaluated against the cost to the recipient. Cost, of course, is often about inconvenience rather than money.

It's easy to start shooting blindly when technology flushes new targets out of the bushes. But accomplished hunters don't strip an area bare. They know that practicing conservation now will reward them with good hunting for many years to come.

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