Naturally Mailblocks has every right to draft these terms of service -- heck, sending ads to its users may be the only way it can afford to provide accounts and tech support at ~$10 a year -- but we have every right to say "no, thanks." Nowadays it's not just RTFM. It's Read The Fine Terms Of Service Agreement (RTFTOSA). Also: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/24/technology/24PHIL.html >On Monday, Phil Goldman, whose career as a software designer has included >stints at Apple, General Magic, WebTV and Microsoft, will introduce a >service that he says will permanently end e-mail spam for consumers who >are being driven to distraction by unsolicited pitches for diet schemes >and offers of great wealth from Nigeria. [...] -Declan --- From: Kyle Maus To: declanat_private Subject: New "spam-reduction" service may yield more spam. Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2003 12:26:15 -0600 Declan, please remove my e-mail address. Thanks. CNET (among other news sites is touting Mailblocks, a "new class of email service that completely rids your Inbox of spam and offers the powerful features you want in your web mail." After reading the ToS and privacy policy, I certainly will not recommend the service. CNET's article here: http://news.com.com/2010-1071-992911.html Mailblocks link: http://www.mailblocks.com These are taken from the site's privacy policy and ToS: "Mailblocks furnishes our members, and permits third parties to furnish our members, through the Services and otherwise, with information, promotional materials and solicitations, from time to time. You may not "opt out" of the receipt of such promotional materials from Mailblocks and/or its affiliates, advertisers or other business partners if you wish to use the Services. The receipt of such promotional materials is an inseparable part of the Services that Mailblocks provides. If you decide that you would like to discontinue receiving such promotional materials, you must stop your use of the Services and terminate your account with Mailblocks." "Mailblocks reserves the right to release any personally identifiable registration information regarding you to third parties who provide goods or services that we believe may be of interest to you. Some third parties furnishing you with promotional materials may permit you to "opt out" of receiving such communications from them. However, Mailblocks is not responsible for any such party's failure to comply with its own "opt out" policies." "Mailblocks uses individual data to "target" advertising - to decide which advertisements and sponsor messages to send to which members. As an example, if Sponsor Co. wishes to send their advertising only to Mailblocks members residing in California, Mailblocks uses member registration data to ensure that Sponsor Co.'s ads are sent only to members residing in California." "Mailblocks may use individual members' data to "pre-populate" forms which are displayed for the purpose of collecting individual data by Mailblocks and/or its sponsors. In no case does pre-populating a form automatically transfer any data to any advertiser or third party. Only if the member voluntarily requests that such data be transferred will any transfer take place - for example, if/when a member clicks a "submit form" button or other button." So, these people expect me to pay them to fix one spam problem while they create another? I don't think so.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH evening reception in New York City at 7 pm, April 1, 2003 at CFP: http://www.politechbot.com/events/cfp2003/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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