UPDATE ON BULK E-MAIL:
Direct Marketing Association Endorses Opt-In E-mail

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA), now the parent organization of the Association for Interactive Media (AIM), plans to cut spam out of its marketing regimen once and for all.

Ray Everett-Church, co-founder and counsel for the Coalition Against Un-solicited Commercial E-Mail (CAUCE) and other opponents of unsolicited bulk e-mail, known derisively as "spam," met with members of the DMA to work on developing plans for making the bulk e-mail trade on the Internet something agreeable to both potential customers and the Internet service providers (ISPs) who keep their users’ accounts.

The marketers and anti-spammers alike said they would support legislation that prohibits the "false identification" of commercial e-mail; acknowledge "opt-in" as the best way for online marketers to get customer consent for bulk e-mails; and work on a global "opt-out" list to allow ISPs to remove their entire database of domain name accounts from bulk e-mail lists.

The opt-in approach mentioned above is the process by which a visitor to a Web site is asked by the direct marketer if he or she would like to receive marketing materials via e-mail.

"It was through a cooperative effort between the CEO of the DMA, Robert Wientzen, and Rodney Joffe, president of the American Computer Group, a large mailing list operator," Everett-Church said. He added that Joffe had developed a system earlier this year that allows direct marketers to compile lists of e-mail account holders who do not want to receive commercial e-mails.

"We have long seen the efficacy of opt-in programs and are encouraged by their adoption by many marketers," Wientzen said in a statement. "Furthermore, we continue to believe that legislation should not prohibit otherwise legal and non-abusive communication."

The US Congress has generally adopted a stance that encourages private industry to resolve the spamming problem. Legislation that was born in the House of Representatives in the 105th Congress to set up guidelines for prohibiting spam died in committee hearings.

Several states currently have their own bulk e-mail regulations.