From: TomCrouser@aol.com
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 1996 19:44:15 -0400
Subject: More On Spam
Content-Length: 20833
X-UIDL: 846124591.001

Crouser Report OnLine Copyright 1996 Thomas P. Crouser, October 22, 1996 -
Material may not be reproduced in whole or in part without prior written
consent of the copyright holder.
***** *****
Not making enough money in your Print Shop, but don t have time to do
anything about it? Making lots of money but still don t have any time? People
problems? Cost or pricing challenges? Sales slump? Sales increasing but no
cash? Transitioning the business to children?  For a free, no obligation
evaluation of your circumstance, please reply to this message with your name,
company, address, telephone and fax.
Crouser & Associates. . . Helping Printers Prosper since 1985.
(Upcoming visitations in California, Texas, Florida, Louisiana, and Arizona.)
***** *****
More On Spam
Transmitted from Sioux Falls, South Dakota

SPAM and Email was the topic of several messages so we re devoting this
message to it. Here  tis. 
*****
Subj:	SPAM & e-mail marketing
From:	dlr2dlr@airmail.net (Tom Kostishak)
To: 	tomcrouser@aol.com

Dear Tom. . .I read with interest your latest newsletter and the concerns
over SPAMMING and e-mail marketing.  Isn t it wonderful how technology makes
our lives simpler and harder at the same time?

I am a big proponent of subscribed e-mail marketing like your newsletter or
American Airlines Netsaaver service.  For those of you who are unfamiliar
with it, Netsaaver is a weekly e-mail that American sends to over 100,000
subscribers each week.  The e-mail lists airfare, hotel & rental car specials
for the upcoming weekend, usually good from Saturday to Tuesday. American,
Hilton & Avis end up selling seats, rooms and cars that otherwise would have
gone unused and the consumer gets highly discounted savings.  A win-win for
everyone.  SPAM, on the other hand, is an annoyance I am going to have to
learn to live with.

Two real problems with e-mail marketing are as follows:

1.  Too many e-mails in your in box can cripple your system.  There are
hackers out in cyberspace who do this on purpose.

2.  Sent at the wrong time, it can shut an entire system down.  This happened
at Baylor University recently where a student was responding to an e-mail and
ended up sending nearly 10,000 e-mails in the middle of the day, essentially
shutting down the system for 4 hours.

Keep the newsletters coming.  Netsaaver can be found at American Airlines
home page. Sincerely, Tom Kostishak
*****
Subj:	SPAM
From:	kstrauss@legendcomm.com (Ken Strauss)
To:	TomCrouser@aol.com

I was shocked and dismayed by your recent issue on SPAM. I m sure that it was
not your intent but some could interpret it as defending spam. Spam is not
like making a collect call to sell something; collect calls are normally
refused. It is far closer to using a business s 800 number for a sales call.
Your readers might be interested in the Internet Fraud Watch for info on
spam, scams, etc. at  http://www.fraud.org.
*****
Subj:	EMAILERS Or SPAM?
From:	Hotline Cy
To:	TomCrouser

Tom...I read with interest this newsletter on bulk e-mail. I receive many
inquiries about the same and I have copied below the response I send to those
inquirers. It s a love-hate thing that has both benefits and drawbacks. I
feel that many legitimate individuals are probably going through the same
thing I did - learning how to use it and making major mistakes during that
learning curve.
===============================================
My Experience With Bulk E-Mail...

I ve gotten a lot of experience with bulk e-mail the last few months with my
free e-mail newsletter. There are several programs out there that will enable
you to capture addresses and there are other companies who sell e-mail
addresses. The problem is in targeting the people you want to reach. Getting
those addresses is very difficult and time consuming.

As an example, I had a mailing list of about 4,000 people who were interested
in printing. I then purchased Floodgate ($350) which allows you to go to
various newsgroups and servers (like AOL or CompuServe) and download
addresses from the membership list or from the news group. Floodgate then
strips out everything except the e-mail address. That sounded great to me and
in a relatively short period of time I had accumulated some 22,000 names. The
downside was that I screwed up and merged those 22,000 names with my existing
4,000 and sent a mailing. I received huge numbers of bad addresses - once
someone subscribes to AOL or CompuServe, their address remains permanently in
the membership database - even after they have dropped the service. In
addition, a huge number of those 22,000 names were furious that I sent them
unsolicited e-mail. Rather than just following the instructions in the first
paragraph and ask to be removed from the list they come back with all kinds
of obscene language, send scores of reports to your Internet Provider, and in
some cases fill your mailbox with hundreds of maximum size messages that ties
up space on both your system and your providers. I also purchased a targeted
list which was even worse than the list I had built using Floodgate.

The best way to obtain your list is without question the way I obtained my
original 4,000 names. It was time consuming, but I knew those folks had an
interest. I got those addresses by picking up business cards at trade shows,
adding the addresses of those who either fax or e-mail Hotline requests, and
spread the word every way I can that I have a free e-mail newsletter. I also
work with others who have an interest in the industry like the consultant,
Tom Crouser. He is kind enough to mention my newsletter occasionally in his
and gives my subscription address.

There are a couple of things you want to seriously consider. First of all,
the e-mail software you want to use to send your messages needs to be
something like Pegasus - a shareware program. It is very powerful and can
easily handle large numbers. This can be downloaded free from PrinterNet. If
you want it on disk, you can order it from me for $9, including shipping
charges. I am no longer in the shareware distribution business and am not
soliciting orders, but still offer the service occasionally to those who
can t find certain programs.

Next, you want to meet with your Internet provider and let him know what you
are planning. Bring a copy of the type of material you intend to be mailing.
That will eliminate a world of headaches from the 

flames

 you will receive
if you send your mail unsolicited.

Finally, rather than sending the your initial message giving the recipient
the option to be removed from the list, I wish that I had sent my  first
newsletter with a note in the top of the document that this is a sample issue
and the only one they will receive unless they reply with a request to
SUBSCRIBE. Then delete your mailing list and start building a new one from
those who request to be added.

Best wishes. If you have any other specific questions, please do not hesitate
to ask. I will attempt to respond in a rather timely manner.

Bottom line - I would not recommend investing in Floodgate unless you are
mass mailing for something like a multiple level marketing plan and have a
phone or fax number for people to respond to. Get a separate account with a
different Internet Provider that you don t mind losing if they cancel your
account because of the flames. It s an incredible tool but we are still
trying to figure out just how to make best use of it and turn it into dollars
legitimately. Happy hunting...cy
*****
Subj:	EMAILERS Or SPAM?
From:	LarryHN
To: 	TomCrouser

Tom - let me add a bit to this

1 - SPAM may very well be illegal. The communications act does mention FAX
machines - but it then goes on to define a fax machine as any electronic
device which can convert electrical signals into text - probably does include
a computer

2 - if it is covered then it is possible that the SPAMMER could be liable for
$500 for each illegal message they sent - your defender who sends 2000 to
4000 per week (THAT IS SPAM for sure no matter how you cut it) potentially
could be put out of business and his life destroyed if he were convicted and
had to pay $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 for each week he had SPAMMED the internet
- it may be unlikely but is the risk worth it

3 - even if it is not illegal, it really pisses many people off - so since it
is cheap you can afford to piss more people off. I am one - I do not mind
Junk snail mail - it goes into the recycle bin unopened and costs me nothing
and almost no time. SPAM on the other hand floods my mailbox and can not be
distinguished from real mail - in fact SPAMMERS pride themselves at making up


clever

 subjects to force you to read their mail to see what it is. So it
wastes my time, obscures real mail in my mail box and I HAVE TO PAY TO
RECEIVE AND READ IT.

4 - Most SPAMMERS lie about their remove process just like they use false
subjects to fool you into reading their SPAM. I follow the remove
instructions and at least 75% continue to send SPAM. So I also forward their
SPAM to aol TOSEmail1 and to their postmaster (Postmaster@xxx.com where xxx
is their ISP - can be found in the headers at the bottom of the message in
most cases) and the abuse processor at their ISP (Abuse@xxx.com). about 10%
of these get their accounts canceled quickly (100% if they come from AOL or
if they have an AOL return address for the SPAM)

5 - Bottom line - It is probably illegal - it could subject the sender to
very large fines - it is certainly very poor netiquette - and it pisses many
people off. Seems to me that only a dummy or a crook would send SPAM given
the facts. 

Larry Nebel
United Electronic Printers Inc.
E-Mail LarryHN@alco.com
World Wide Web URL = http://www.alco.com/alco
*****
Larry subsequently added to his remarks in an additional message.

Subj:	Fwd: RESPONSE FROM CYBERPROMO
From:	LarryHN
To: 	TomCrouser

Cyberpromo.com is one of the WORST SPAM generators on the net. AOL has sued
them and tried to cut off their access to aol users because of their
continued issuance of SPAM. As you can see from the attached message even
Cyberpromo.com has had to start taking action against the 

crooks

 - what
else can you call someone who uses forged e-mail addresses - sending SPAM.
This is just one example of the extent of the problem of SPAM and why it is
so bad. Larry
-----------------
Forwarded Message:
Subj:	RESPONSE FROM CYBERPROMO
From:	abusebot@savetrees.com (Mail AutoResponder)
To: 	larryhn@aol.com

Version 10-9-96: Cyber Promotions has started to implement stricter Terms of
Service policies WITH TEETH.  We have just recently terminated several
accounts for abuse of our policies.  (Updated TOS at end of message).

The following email accounts have been *recently TERMINATED...

*jrtkjs@savetrees.com         10-9-96: Forgery and spamming INTERNET
*jrtkjs@answerme.com          



      



       



     



     



     




*dollars@savetrees.com        Non-existent account.  The account was 
forged by the people who opened the accounts above.

*info1@cyberpromo.com         10-8-96: Unsolicited ads to INTERNET addresses 

*changes@answerme.com         9-30-96: Unsolicited ads to INTERNET addresses
*changes@cyberpromo.com       9-30-96: Unsolicited ads to INTERNET addresses
*changes@savetrees.com        9-30-96: Unsolicited ads to INTERNET addresses

*catalog@savetrees.com        9-30-96: Unsolicited ads to INTERNET addresses
*catalog@cyberpromo.com       9-30-96: Unsolicited ads to INTERNET addresses
*catalog@answerme.com         9-30-96: Unsolicited ads to INTERNET addresses

*eleven@answerme.com          9-28-96: Forgeries
*eleven@savetrees.com         9-28-96: Forgeries
*eleven@answerme.com          9-28-96: Forgeries

*tsahk@cyberpromo.com         9-27-96: Unsolicited ads to INTERNET addresses
*tsahk@answerme.com           9-27-96: Unsolicited ads to INTERNET addresses

*icssender@omni.cyberpromo.com   9-19-96: FORGED unsolicited email, making
it appear that Cyberpromo s auto-sender was responsible.  If you are in
receipt of the message, please look through the headers and complain to the
appropriate postmasters.

networkes@answerme.com       9-17-96: Ignored remove requests
networkes@cyberpromo.com     9-17-96: Ignored remove requests
networkes@savetrees.com      9-17-96: Ignored remove requests
reminders@answerme.com       9-17-96: Unsolicited ads to INTERNET addresses
reminders@savetrees.com      9-17-96: Unsolicited ads to INTERNET addresses
reminders@cyberpromo.com     9-17-96: Unsolicited ads to INTERNET addresses

salespromo@answerme.com      9-16-96: Unsolicited ads to INTERNET addresses
salespromo@savetrees.com     



  



         



  




salespromo@cyberpromo.com    



  



         



  




promo@answerme.com           



  



         



  




promo@savetrees.com          



  



         



  




promo@cyberpromo.com         



  



         



  




info4free@answerme.com       



  



         



  




info4free@savetrees.com      



  



         



  




info4free@cyberpromo.com     



  



         



  





manda@cyberpromo.com      8-28: Massive abuse to INTERNET addresses / FORGERY
manda@answerme.com        8-28: Massive abuse to INTERNET addresses / FORGERY
website@cyberpromo.com    8-27: excessive abuse to AOL / removals ignored
sevenmil@cyberpromo.com   8-27: excessive abuse / all removals ignored
sevenmil@answerme.com     8-27: 



     



      



     



     



    




vera@cyberpromo.com
vera@answerme.com
zol@answerme.com
website@answerme.com
allied@cyberpromo.com
allied@answerme.com
lists@cyberpromo.com
lists@answerme.com

If you have a complaint about an account that was not listed above, please
forward it to our President s personal account:  wallace@cyberpromo.com

We currently operate the following servers: answerme.com; cyberpromo.com;
omni.cyberpromo.com; gamut.cyberpromo.com We DO NOT operate the following
servers: uunet; interramp; athens.servint; cais; postman.com; powernet;
pwrsite

Cyber Promotions is *not* in business to annoy people.  We are in the
business of sending (and assisting in sending) commercial (and noncommercial)
email to people who are *not* offended by the receipt of these messages.
 Unfortunately, due to many experiences (many of which were out of our
control) we have had some problems accomplishing our goals without upsetting
some people.  We are truly sorry about that fact, and we plan to 

clean up
the streets

 as best as we can.

Some people have been under the impression that all email that appears to
come from cyberpromo.com, is from Cyber Promotions.  That is not true. Most
of the complaints that we have recently received have been in reaction to
people who have 

autoresponders

 and 

virtual email addresses

 on our system.
 In that case, their mail would have referenced an account on our system, but
originated from a different site.  Unfortunately, software like Pegasus
enables their mail to appear as if it came from us, directly.  But, their
true origination is still evident in the headers.  You can determine where it
originated if you know how to decode headers.  But when doing so, remember
that Pegasus, for example, actually logs into *our* sendmail.  At this time,
the only messages that originate from Cyber Promotions, use our proprietary
Cyber Sender 2.1+ protocol which will always be indicated in the
organization: header.

Due to these 

look alikes,

 it could appear that recipients  remove request
were being ignored.  WE DO NOT IGNORE REMOVE REQUESTS.

We now also maintain a 

master

 remove list of people who have asked to be
removed from all commercial mailing lists.  If you have received an email
from 

Cyber Sender 2.1+

, our new proprietary transport agent protocol, then
the remove features *do* work properly, now that all of the bugs have been
fixed (uppercase and lowercase now match, too).  No mail is allowed out of
our system, if the recipient s address is in our master remove list. We
currently have over 1.1 million email addresses in that file.  If you wish to
add your address to that master remove list, you can do so in two different
ways.

1.  You can send an email to remove@cyberpromo.com and type 

REMOVE ALL

 in
the subject or message field.  Our systems will automatically permanently
remove from our system the email address from which you sent your request.

2.  You may also send an email to manremove@cyberpromo.com and type as many
email addresses as you wish in the body of the message, each on its own line,
without any comments.  The subject line is ignored.  That address will also
permanently remove the addresses.  Please note: we have no control over mail
that originates from other sites, that travel through our SMTP (relay-host)
servers.  We will simply terminate any accounts that we maintain, that is
referred to in their abusive mail.

ATTENTION PRODIGY MEMBERS:
It has come to Cyber Promotions  attention, that some of you are having a
major problem removing yourselves from our lists.  This can be attributed to
the 

alias

 that your outgoing mail may contain.  If you are having problems,
please send an email to manremove@cyberpromo.com and type both of your email
addresses in the body of the message, each on its own line, without any
comments.  The subject line is ignored.  You probably have one address like
xazd35r@prodigy.com and another address like sanford@prodigy.com.

ATTENTION PIPELINE MEMBERS:
It has come to Cyber Promotions  attention, that some of you are having a
major problem removing yourselves from our lists.  This can be attributed to
the 

alias

 that your outgoing mail may contain.  If you are having problems,
please send an email to manremove@cyberpromo.com and type your email
addresses in the body of the message, each on its own line, without any
comments.  The subject line is ignored.  You should type your email id
followed by the following THREE domains.   @usa.pipeline.com, @pipeline.com,
 @nyc.pipeline.com.  Even if you feel that your address is definately only
one of the three possibilities, you should still remove all three addresses
(each on its own line).

ATTENTION INTERNET USERS:
It has come to Cyber Promotions  attention, that some of you are having a
major problem removing yourselves from our lists.  This can be attributed to
the 

alias

 that your outgoing mail may contain.  If you are having problems,
please send an email to manremove@cyberpromo.com and type your email
addresses in the body of the message, each on its own line, without any
comments.  The subject line is ignored.  If your email address could contain
an alias like mail.domain.com or if you may have more that one email address
that points to another email address, you should remove them all.  If you
wish to remove *every* email address in your domain, please contact us, and
we will 

grep

 out every possibility.

REVISED TERMS OF SERVICE:
(We are also looking into the possibility that we may be forced to adopt the
policies of our backbone providers.  For the time being, we are emulating
their policies as best as we can while matching the needs of our operations.)

1. We do not allow postings to inappropriate newsgroups with reference to
your account because such postings result in *MUCH* more negative response
than positive.

2. We prohibit the advertising of offensive material (i.e. pornography,
weapons, etc.).

3. You may not use the account to participate in illegal activities.

4. Our TOS strictly prohibits the sending of mass commercial emails to
INTERNET addresses, unless expressed permission has been granted to you by
the recipient. In addition, you *must* honor all requests for removal from
your mailing list in a diligent manner. Our service can be used in
conjunction with advertisements that you place with a bulk email company
other than your own or us, as long as they follow the same guidelines.

5.  Cyber Promotions reserves the right to terminate any account for any
reason at any time, without notice.

If you would like to send a complaint about any account @cyberpromo.com or
@answerme.com or @omni.cyberpromo.com  that has not been terminated, please
send email to: wallace@cyberpromo.com
*****
Well, now that s settled. . . .Anyway, we re getting out of this place for
it s getting cold. . .winter is coming and I heard it snowed in Iowa today. .
. .till next time.

Happy Trails, Tom and Pamela Crouser
***** *****
End of Message. To unsubscribe to this service, send a message to
TomCrouser@aol.com and include the word 

UNSUBSCRIBE

 in the body copy of the
message.

BACK ISSUES May Be Found at the National Association of Quick Printer s
America On Line Site (keyword: NAQP, publications, Crouser Report) or on the
internet at the PrintUSA web site (http://printusa.com/articles/crouser.htm). Hey, do we get around or what?