Real Estate Forums

Jared · 05-26-2007, 08:54 AM

Reading some of the tech news I get from the linux users group I'm a member of suggests that lobbyists make SPAM a crime punishable by prison time and or a hefty fine.

Although this nation already has laws regarding deceptive false offers in using SPAM to defraud (one guy got 11 years in prison for it) there are no laws for SPAM in general.

Its tragic really because AOL and Southern Bell among many others limit the email sent to their networks to only a few hundred per sender in a given period of time.

This isn't really intelligent considering some forums could easily send out post notifications to several hundred registered members who have AOL accounts resulting in some not getting their emails.

Furthermore SPAM is said to account for the vast majority of all internet traffic and that doesn't include Blog and Forum SPAM which programs are written to automate.

My take on the subject is that SPAM has literally no use, not to marketing, sales, or even legitimate promotion and its only employed by scam artists and frauds deceptively.

I think it should be a crime that if its proven the first few should get a hefty sentence of say 5 - 10 years to make example of them and then as a result of increased court costs and the cost to pursue SPAM offenders the sentences could be set to a mandatory minimum of a year with 5 years of stipulation that they can't have access to the internet.

Extreme? Maybe. But in this forum and the many others I moderate or repair as a result of abuse by SPAM pretty much tells me that if there is NO consequence for the actions then there is no motive to abstain from them.

Your thoughts?

~ Jared

HHI Golf Guy · 05-26-2007, 02:40 PM

The problem with email spam is that it's tough to find out who is sending it (unless they are hawking a product or service). And when you do trace it the email has come from someone in China or Romania. I don't think we'll ever be able to take legal action against those individuals.

My question has always been, "Who buys from these spammers?" My guess is stupid people that have no clue they will most likely be ripped off.

But look at the numbers from the perspective of the spammer. Lets say they send out 5 million spam messages and get a conversion buy rate of 0.01%. That means they tapped in to 500 victims. And let's say they are selling their widget for a mere 20 bucks. They make 10 grand in sales on that deal. Not bad for sending an email.

But I do wish that when we are able to catch spammers that live here in the U.S. (regardless of what country they send their email from) that we burn them at the stake. Or at least put them away for 20 years. Harsh, yes. But that's the way laws should be to deter criminals.

Jared · 05-27-2007, 09:07 AM

You know you're 100% right on that and it could be ignorant people that make it worth while. I have a few paypal accounts and I periodically get these notices that suggest there is a problem with my account then asking me to enter my information again to solve some problem. These things are so authentic looking I can only imagine how frequently people get duped.

SPAM isn't just annoying though it can be damaging if your blog or forum gets SPAM bots nailing it.

~ Jared

REMAX LV · 06-11-2007, 05:18 PM

I do not know if it should be illegal, but there should be some sort of regulation regarding its quantity! It also depends on what "spam" is constituted as. Would that include real estate marketing? You have to look at it from all angels. I know that I do a lot of my Las Vegas real estate marketing and prospecting in a form that some would call "spam"....

CedarCity · 06-12-2007, 06:00 AM

The problem with making spam illegal is defining spam. We could all write down our definition and they would all be slightly different.
In fact, I think some people would consider a drip email campaign that 90% of web realtors do spam.

Jared · 06-12-2007, 09:34 AM

To me SPAM is simply unsolicited email. Its email that someone sends to me without me asking for it, subscribing for it and so on. I mean if someone adds me to some campaign where they purchased or data mined my email address then tries to sell me something because they think SPAM is the same as direct mail then its SPAM.

I dont mind a person forwarding me an email or contacting me directly but if I'm on a bulk list that I didn't join, I just trash their email and never bother to read it.

Las Vegas Real Estate · 06-13-2007, 05:12 PM

I agree. I mean really, what is "spam"? I think that it should be defined and then regulated based upon that. There needs to be a point where Viagra emails stop, but enough slack to where one can still market their product logically!

Jared · 06-13-2007, 05:42 PM

I guess in basic terms it means unsolicited emails right?

Las Vegas Homes · 06-18-2007, 07:17 PM

Unsolicited emails can mean many marketing aspects as well! A lot of my Las Vegas real estate recruiting is done via email blast...would that be included as well? I agree with SDRE however, who really buys any of those real "spam"-type products? I mean, have you ever received a random email from a brand new vitamin company and just ordered a dozen cases?

HHI Golf Guy · 06-19-2007, 05:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Las Vegas Homes

I mean, have you ever received a random email from a brand new vitamin company and just ordered a dozen cases?

I always wondered who the heck would buy pills from a spammer. You would have to be nuts to do that - especially with pharmaceuticals.

And what about the people that still fall for the Nigerian scams? C'mon - do you really think YOU were picked to help smuggle $88 million out of a country?