FC: Fleishman-Hillard PR firm blocks all mail from well.com, Politech

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Tue Apr 09 2002 - 23:33:13 PDT

  • Next message: Declan McCullagh: "FC: UK wiretapping "traffic" vs. "contents" a sham, by John Gilmore"

    [On second reading, it's not entirely clear whether Chuck is blocking all 
    mail from the Well and Politech himself or just encouraging everyone at 
    Fleishman-Hillard to do so. In any case, it's a sad case of self-appointed, 
    anti-spam vigilantes run amok... --Declan]
    
    ---
    
    >Date: Tue, 09 Apr 2002 23:22:09 -0700
    >To: "Magner, Chuck" <magnercat_private>
    >From: Declan McCullagh <declanat_private>
    >Subject: Re: spam
    >Cc: "Mcclure, Marna" <mccluremat_private>, "Craven, Liz" 
    ><cravenlat_private>
    >
    >Let's get the chronology straight:
    >1. Marna McClure, from Fleishman-Hillard, which bills itself as the 
    >"leading" public relations consultancy in the U.S., subscribes to 
    >Politech. My records show Marna joined in April 1998 or earlier.
    >2. Four years later, in April 2002, Marna wishes to unsubscribe. But she 
    >either forgets what email address she used or can't figure out how to 
    >unsubscribe -- even though clear instructions are on the Politech website.
    >3. Marna complains to me a few hours ago that Politech messages are "spam" 
    >and threatens to report them as such. ("I will report this as spam if you 
    >do not get me off your email list immediately.") This is the first time I 
    >heard from her that she was having problems.
    >4. I take time out of my day (Politech is not a for-profit activity, just 
    >a hobby) to check and see what email address she subscribed under and give 
    >her the appropriate instructions to unsubscribe.
    >5. It looks like Marna changed her email address sometimes in the last 
    >four years from Mccluremat_private to Mcclurem2at_private, 
    >according to a directory of PR folks 
    >(http://www.workinpr.com/industry/agency/pr_findbystate.asp). I'd guess 
    >she was trying to unsubscribe her new address from Politech.
    >
    >Your response: On behalf of Fleishman-Hillard, you complain that, somehow, 
    >Politech is "junk" and threaten to report me to the Net.spam.cops.
    >
    >You also say that you're blocking any mail from Politech to anyone else at 
    >Fleishman-Hillard, even though many other folks at the company are 
    >subscribers who presumably want to continue to receive messages. You say 
    >that Fleishman-Hillard will, in spite, block *all* mail from well.com, 
    >which is an Internet provider with (last I checked) over 10,000 
    >subscribers. Among those subscribers are hundreds of journalists with whom 
    >Fleishman-Hillard presumably wants to communicate.
    >
    >Two questions for you, Chuck: You ever see that Saturday Night Live skit 
    >where Jimmy Fallon plays "Nick Burns, Your Company's Computer Guy?" You 
    >ever wonder why everyone in the company hates him so much?
    >
    >-Declan
    >
    >At 12:51 PM 4/9/2002 -0500, Magner, Chuck wrote:
    >
    >>Considering your inability to comprehend the amount of inconvenience you 
    >>cause not only our users at the desktop by having to spend valuable work 
    >>time deleting your unsolicited emails, but also our IT department by 
    >>having to create filters to eliminate your junk. I have advised Ms 
    >>Mcclure and everybody else in our company to report all unsolicted emails 
    >>from you and those originating from well.com to;
    >>
    >>spamcop.net
    >>
    >>nofalsenegatives.stopspam.samspade.org blacklist
    >>
    >>http://mail-abuse.org
    >>
    >>Dorkslayers Zero Tolerance List  http://www.dorkslayers.com/
    >>
    >>Spam Prevention Early Warning System   http://www.spews.org/
    >>
    >>Spamhaus Block List  http://www.spamhaus.org/
    >>
    >>We will be notifying the business manager at Well: bizmgrat_private and 
    >>the technical contact dnsat_private of your unsolicited spam activities. 
    >>As well as sending snail mail to their address at;
    >>
    >>  22 Fourth Street, 16th Floor
    >>  San Francisco, CA 94103
    >>
    >>
    >>  I consider it an honor and privilige to use all the technology tools 
    >> available at making you go away, I will be contacting you personally as 
    >> soon as possible.
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >>The purpose and intent of this email and any attachments are intended 
    >>solely for the Addressee(s).  Contents may contain privileged, 
    >>confidential or otherwise protected information.  If you are not the 
    >>Addressee(s) or the person responsible for delivering this to the 
    >>Addressee(s), you are hereby notified that dissemination, distribution or 
    >>copying of this email or the information herein is prohibited.  If you 
    >>received this email message in error, please take the steps necessary to 
    >>delete the message completely from your computer system and contact the 
    >>sender.  Any other use, retention, dissemination, forwarding, printing or 
    >>copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited.
    >>
    
    
    
    
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list
    You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice.
    Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/
    To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html
    This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Politech dinner in SF on 4/16: http://www.politechbot.com/events/cfp2002/
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    



    This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Apr 09 2002 - 12:00:24 PDT