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Arianna staff admits spam mistake
Former blogger Victor Stone dug into the Arianna Huffington spam flap and writes: "I broke the fourth wall and actually called the Arianna hq and talked to the tech staff because I've talked to them before and spamming is something I know they were very, very sensitive about. They told me the spamming was a big "mistake" and that "it will never happen again" -- they sounded sufficiently freaked to me."
Techdirt, for example, portrayed GetActive (the campaign's isp) as the culprit in this, but Victor maintains, "They have nothing to do with it and they too are freaked at the unresearched allegations."
Gotta like it when Netizens take to the phones to get first-hand info instead of relying on guesswork.
September 12, 2003 at 04:00 PM in Weblogs | Permalink
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Good to know.
However, if you look at the headers of the email, it looks very much like it was sent by GetActive. GetActive's webpage doesn't suggest that they're an ISP at all, but rather a grassroots organizing organization, and their slogan is: "recruit, engage, retain". Their top service is "messaging" and they specifically talk about how to create email campaigns.
That doesn't sound like an ISP/hosting company. That sounds like a political action group that spams - so I don't think my assumption was that far out of line, based on the info on their website. If that's NOT what they do, then they really need to work on their marketing message.
If it really was a mistake, I wouldn't have minded an apology.
Posted by: Mike Masnick at Sep 14, 2003 2:44:50 PM
I posted my thoughts at my blog
If you check out @vocacy , who is referenced by URL in their email, you will note that they play the "permission-based" game just like most of the "opt-in" spam companies.
And if you sign up for emails at her site, it comes from the same site.
I mean, really. Of course they are going to tell you that it's an isolated accident, even if they are doing it on purpose.
Posted by: w.h. at Sep 15, 2003 1:46:50 PM
OK, well I'm sufficiently confused...
"so I don't think my assumption was that far out of line"
Why assume anything Mike? If TechDirt is some kind of journalistic enterprise then when why not be a journalist and follow up? I'm sure if you call the Huffington hq you'd get an apology (I did and they did) -- but I for one sure would NOT appreciate they send out ANOTHER unsolicited piece of mail to do that.
Forgive me for saying this but you made a mistake based on false assumptions when all you had to do was simply contact the parties involved and YOUR haven't run any corrections (leave alone appologies) on your site (or did I miss it?).
"Of course they are going to tell you that it's an isolated accident, even if they are doing it on purpose."
Another assumption: the campaign tech staff is lying. That's your opinion; I've gotten to know these folks, they are good folks who are trying to make a difference in the world and made a mistake in judgement on the way there.
There are real policitians with real power lying to people about real things that actually affect people's lives from birth to death... this just can't be one of them...
Posted by: victor at Sep 16, 2003 5:33:08 PM
