TRUSTe announces spam-fighting certifications
Today Truste announced they are launching a new program to fight spam by adding a digital certification of, well non-spamminess, to messages sent by legitimate mailers. Microsoft and Doubleclick have both signed on to test the program. If you’re a certified email sender, then your emails would have a little seal in the upper right hand corner. Kind of like having a Better Business Bureau seal on your shop window.
It doesn’t stop spam, and you have to open the email to see it. But I’ll bet some of the spam filtering software folks are considering adding a “look for the seal” to their programs, to make it easier for consumers.
The biggest problem ahead is defining exactly who gets certified, and who doesn’t. (In fact some of the companies involved with the program have themselves been accused of at least minor spamming infractions in the past.) Are opt-out mailers ok? Do you have to be single opt-in? Various industry organizations and email list brokers are under tremendous pressure from list owners and mailers to say opt-out, and renting pre-checked box collected names, is fine because they make more money that way — at least short term — even though consumers dislike it.
My thanks to Michael Herman of ChristianityToday.com for sending in a link to one of the best written overviews of today’s news and its possible implications. This article by The Washington Post’s Leslie Walker is a must-read if you send email.
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