Digg ThisI keep getting emails from James Brodbelt Harris (don’t worry — I placed a “nofollow” on that link!). He’s running for political office somewhere in Ohio (I don’t care where — I’m never going to vote for him, please read on).
I can’t opt out of his email.
I never opted in for his email.
I have no idea where he got my email address, but I did not give him permission to use it under any circumstance. I have emailed him several times asking him to cease and desist. I still get his unsolicited emails.
It’s time to take the gloves off. Below is a copy of the complaint I filed against Mr. Harris with the FTC, about his violating the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.
I cannot countenance, for any reason whatsoever, his election, because he is — in *my* honest opinion — breaking the law every time he emails me — or anybody else that never had the chance to either opt out or to decline his communication. Such is the definition of Unsolicited Commercial Email (”commercial” in this sense meaning that he is urging me to spend my vote with him rather than with an opponent).
Here is the copy of my complaint:
~ (personal lines deleted) ~
Subject of Your Complaint: Computers/Internet Services
Name of Company You Are Complaining About: James Brodbelt Harris, Harris for Ohio
Street Address: 1172 Muirwood Dr.
City: Zanesville
State or Canadian Province: Ohio
Country: UNITED STATES
Zip Code or Postal Code: 43701
Company Web Site: http://www.harrisforohio.com
Company E-Mail Address: HarrisForOhio@aol.com
Phone Number: (740)408-2495 Ext.
How Did the Company Initially Contact You?: E-mail
Explain Your Problem: (Please limit your complaint to 2000 characters.): I keep receiving email from Mr. Harris, a candidate for some political office nowhere near my electoral area. I have written email to him several times asking him to stop sending emails to me (e.g., “please quit SPAMMING me”), to no avail.He has no opt-out link in his emails.
I did not opt-in for his emails, nor did I ever give him any sort of permission to email me.
I still get his emails — AND I DON’T WANT TO RECEIVE HIS EMAILS.
You may or may not do anything about this; as far as I’m concerned, however, he is guilty of breaking the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.
The gloves are now off.
Will Kessel
http://www.collisionbend.com
Again, I cannot countenance his election, for he is breaking the very law he stands to uphold.
Hell, I’m not even a Republican.
UPDATE (4.6.2006) — Today I received an email from Harris that I have been removed from the mailing list. Hoorah! His response leaves me a bit cold, however:
Dear Mr. Kessel,
Your email at your political blog [removed] has been removed from the HFO non-commercial distribution list.
I now have a political blog. A political blog! Imagine that! This is not a political blog, nor has that ever been my intent. I can play that role, however (with apologies to Richard Russo).
After checking incoming emails, HFO has never received a reply from your domain and does not agree with your assertion that any has been received.
I complained right after the very first email you sent me, guys! I can understand if you blame it on a SPAM filter, but please check again…
HFO regrets sending you any unwanted notices, and if you have copies of any responses you made with the email address to which you replied, then please forward so this possible subsequent error can be determined.
So that’s why my email address was harvested? I can see the scenario here: someone over there thought it was a grand idea to start emailing propaganda to bloggers, in the faint hopes that they might get some publicity — and some extra votes.
It’s a nice strategy, even if it is a bit misguided. According to the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, it is illegal to harvest (either by machine or by human interaction) email addressees for the purpose of sending commercial emails to that recipient.
For some time, all emails distributed all have a proper reply email address and a method to reply with the word “remove” in subject line. Thanks for your noticing this issue, which has been corrected, HFO
A proper reply email address? Not quite! It is not good enough, nor does it comply with the law, for the recipient to just hit “Reply.” It doesn’t work that way. Someone needs to do some homework.
(By the way, I replied directly to the first email — to Harris’ AOL email address. Perhaps he missed it.)
It is obvious to me that this guy thinks he can ignore the law of the land in order to gain an office in which he will supposedly protect that very same law. Interesting.
Would *you* want to vote for a guy like that? I didn’t think so; there’s a lot of folks up in arms about that very same issue with a certain somebody that lives at this residence.
So I was removed from his mailing list. And, along with my notice that I had been removed, I received another email — from HFO.
You guessed it: another unsolicited email missive about his misguided campaign.
