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

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[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" <magnerc () fleishman com>
> From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
> Subject: Re: spam
> Cc: "Mcclure, Marna" <mcclurem () fleishman com>, "Craven, Liz" 
> <cravenl () fleishman com>
>
> 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 Mcclurem () fleishman com to Mcclurem2 () fleishman com, 
> 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: bizmgr () WELL COM and 
> > the technical contact dns () SALON COM 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.




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