Sharpy said:
Most people that opt-in do not realize they are opting in until the spam begins to flood their email. Then when they try to op-out, this signals the spammasters that there is someone live at the addy. They consider this double-opt-in lol. I have little sympathy for your client. I wish registrars would do this as the rule rather than the exception.
Wow, that's harsh. This client does, in fact, honor their opt-out. It's a shame the bad apples can create an environment where this type of overstepping is considered acceptable. Keeping in mind that shutting down a domain completely (no DNS resolves whatsoever) it akin to locking the doors on a brick and mortar business, and can literally cause a business dependent on email and web traffic to shut down completely. Additionally, doing so prevents other subscribers from accessing the site to modify their opt-in settings, causing them to get frustrated, etc., etc.
If we truly believe in the power and potential of the Internet economy, this would be the same as saying of a brick-and-mortar, "If a company is unsubstantially accused of unethical marketing practices, I wish the mortgage company would call up their mortgage". Shouldn't there be some form of resolution before doing so? While this may be within their rights, this speaks poorly of the service of the bank and would make me want to take my business elsewhere, on the off chance that one of my numerous other domains is somehow involuntarily involved in such an accusation. What happens when a yahoo member spams -- does their registrar shut down the entire yahoo.com domain?
Don't get me wrong, I am strongly against spam, and I am proud of the steps the Internet community has taken to stand against it. However, I don't feel that this type of lone-ranger enforcement is beneficial to the community as a whole, as it punishes the honest emailer.
P.S. It should be noted that this domain was using eNom's DNS servers. This
could have been the reason for the registrar hold. However, attempts to change DNS servers failed, by virtue of the fact that the domain was on hold. If they want to protect their DNS servers from abuse complaints, they should simply shut down the DNS -- not the domain itself.
FWIW, here is a quote from the autoresponder on
[email protected]:
SPAM:
eNom has a zero tolerance spam policy. We monitor the use of our system and services to ensure they are not used for the purpose of sending out unsolicited email. Any issues regarding spam sent to this mail box will be evaluated for merit and acted on where appropriate, and therefore, we reserve the right to use your notice to substantiate the abuse to the client. We have also taken measures to prevent the abuse of our registration engine, web hosting, and DNS services at a transactions point of origin in an effort to contribute our part to the elimination of spam. Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to respond to each and every inquiry or complaint.
