eSpace Webservices does not condone spam in any form. Unsolicited email that is commercial in nature abuses resources and shifts advertising costs to the consumer. This page explains our definition of spam.

In the past several years, the Internet has exploded with commercial activity. The breaking down of barriers between businesses and consumers has been facilitated by the rapid development of new technology, removal of ‘middlemen’, and tax rates favourable to online entrepreneurship.

eSpace Webservices are proud to support responsible commerce on the Internet - this is represented in our service offerings and unparalleled support. However, it has become apparent that the same environment that has helped this trend take off has also contributed to numerous cases of fraud and abuse of network resources.

In particular, "spam" has proven to be a major problem for many of our customers and the Internet at large. Spam is a common Slang Term referring to the sending of unsolicited email, instant messaging, or other communication to a large group of people at once. Variations on this practice include off topic (and usually promotional) messages on bulletin boards, guestbooks, Usenet newsgroups, or chat rooms.

Spam is strictly against our Acceptable Use Policy, and will result in the immediate disablement without refund of any customers who are found to have used spam in conjunction with their eSpace Webservices account.

Spam has a detrimental effect on anyone who uses the Internet. Some of the more widespread problems are outlined below:

Cost Shifting

Cost shifting is the practice of taking the cost of your promotion and making others pay for it. Imagine if every envelope you receive in your mail box required you to pay the postage, rather than the sender - even if you didn’t ask for it. This is exactly what happens with spam. While the spammer may pay for their account, they don’t pay for the bandwidth you use to download the message, the disk space it takes up, the time it takes you to delete it, or our time we take to investigate complaints. Network providers (such as us) are forced to factor all of this into our rates. If spam did not exist, we could offer lower prices.

Fraud

Much - if not most - spam is fraudulent. Many scams are perpetuated by unsolicited bulk communication. After all, if someone doesn't mind making you pay for each message they send you, why should they care about the law? Keep this in mind before you ever support a spammer who asks for your money.

Illegal

In more and more jurisdictions, spam is being made illegal. Many spammers never even bother to comply with the numerous spam-related laws in effect (doing so would make spamming very uneconomical).

Inappropriate Content

A large percentage of spam contains content that many would consider inappropriate or distasteful. And unlike web sites or chat rooms, you have little choice but to receive spam messages whether you want to or not. Unfortunately, this dissuades a lot of parents from allowing their children to enjoy the full benefits of the Internet.

Annoying

Face it; most spam is just simply annoying. ALL CAPS titles, misspelled words, and more exclamation marks than should ever be in a single email - this is what spam usually means. For the spammer, sending a million emails is fine even if it only results in a handful of sales, but this doesn't account for the annoyance and time wasted by those who receive it.

If you receive spam, you should Report It. Never ever reply to the spammer or a 'remove' address - there is a growing trade in valid and functional email addresses in the spam industry, and replying simply makes your address worth more. Never follow links sent in spam, either, as this can also be used to confirm that you read the message.

Instead, you should report the spam with full headers to the offender's service provider. For email and newsgroups, you can use a free reporting service known as SpamCop which makes the tracking and reporting process simple and fast. We highly recommend SpamCop to all of our customers. It's quick, easy, and effective.

You can also investigate the use of filters in your email program to filter anything that looks like spam into a separate folder, making it easier to read your legitimate mail. You can then report the spam at your leisure.

This is not to say that email, even bulk email, is wrong. In fact, it is a great way to keep in touch with your existing customers. However, it is a bad way to advertise to those who have never visited your site before - almost nobody signs up to receive promotional email, and if they do, they generally don't file complaints when they receive them. For responsible email use with your eSpace Webservices account, we require that you heed the following guidelines:

Use Only Your Own Lists

Simply put, commercially available "targeted" lists aren't targeted, and "opt-in" lists aren’t opt-in. If you have to purchase a list from someone, the people on the list by definition did not ask to be told more about your web site. Only send email to people who specifically asked to hear about your site.

Make No Assumptions

Don’t assume that just because someone signed your guestbook or purchased something from you that they want to receive regular mailings. Only send bulk email to them if they specifically ask for it. Also note that just because they want to hear about one of your sites doesn't mean they want to hear about all of them. Make it clear what they are signing up for before-hand.

Full Disclosure

You should be very clear in the content of each message how the user subscribed to it. Remind them that they signed up for your list, and where they did so.

Easy Unsubscribe

It should be very easy for users to unsubscribe from your mailing list. There should be a link somewhere (usually at the bottom or top of the message) that takes them to an unsubscribe page. Alternatively, replying with the word 'remove' in the subject line is another option.

No Forged Headers

If you feel the need to hide the origin of your bulk messages, your account will be terminated without further recourse. This is seen as a clear admission of guilt.

No Spamware

It is against your hosting agreement to sell spamware - software that specifically aims to facilitate the spamming of others - using your account or web space. We see this as contributory theft of service and network abuse.

By following these guidelines and respecting the privacy of your visitors, you can gain much from the responsible practice of commerce online. Of course, should you have any questions regarding the proper way to use bulk email with your web site, please Contact Us for more information.