Yes, we’re alive. There’s just too much spam to choose which one(s) to write about, too little time, and all your usual stuff.
The good news is we’ve got tons more spamtraps. The bad news is that we do, because it means we’re up to our ears in spam that’s eligible to write about… 🙂
A few days ago, somebody tweeted a copy of a letter Fonecta, the Finnish spammer and list vendor, had sent to its customers. The matter also made news in Finnish IT press (Tietoviikko).
A copy of the letter and a translation are included below.
In Laatu korvaa määrän, the CEO of Nebula, a Finnish hosting service provider expounds on how quality is better than quantity (with regard to email marketing, of course).
The post starts out fine, then it descends into the abyss of trying to discern what is a good purchased list.
Can I use a purchased email list? Courtesy of MailChimp.
In the Finnish version of the Why won’t you tell us what email address was spammed article, I surmise that e-pending is largely unknown in Finland.
I stand corrected.
Read more…
WASTE apparently has something to do with music. AMOK seems to be a new album by a band called Atoms for Peace. It sounds interesting, based on the musicians involved. The only problem is that I did not sign up for this list and don’t have any recollection of receiving any sort of email from WASTE previously. So, I think this is spam, and it makes me sad.
Watch John’s acceptance speech on y00t00b.
Congratulations, John! To say it is well deserved is an understatement, but there you have it.
According to Kauppalehti, the Finnish trade/commerce newspaper, Fonecta has had to shut down the email parts of its Kontaktikone spam machine because of Spamhaus listings.
Read more…
Got a response from the Data Protection Ombudsman today (on a matter related to Marjex Oy, Document No. 3030/4511/2012). It has several interesting points of which all Finnish spammers should take note.
Certain companies are absolutely desperate to sell every last possible bit of product during this holiday season. An example: U.S. toy and game retailer Toys’R’Us. Toys’R’Us is currently spamming one of my spamtraps, one that I consider highly likely to be the result of a typoed subscription and so don’t take very seriously. However, that one spamtrap receives from three to five emails per day.