scu said:
How is spamming really defined? If a company decides to email all of its potential customers info on their product, I see nothing wrong with that.
It has been a while since i have had to think of the laws on this. But there is a I believe the SPAMCAN Act that requires the option to either opt-in or opt-out of receiving "unsolicited" emails.
In either case, anyone that does not want to receive this crap is supposed to be provided a link in order to prevent further mailings.
What should happen in the instance that you illustrate, is that the company should send out an email indicating that they are wanting to send further offers to you. At that point they should provide an opt-out option. End of story.
More directly, when they gather your email address they should seek your permission to be able to send you any unsolicited emails.
The problem is defining unsolicited. For if you send an email to Company A, requesting a quote for goods or services - do they have a right to keep that email address to send you further emails that you did not request?
I see this as a possible gray zone. For if you come in to a store asking about product A, the sales person may mention product B that is associated with with product A. Since so much business is now done by email, this can be looked upon as an extension of the sales cycle.
In the end, based on my management of email lists, there is little reason for a consumer to to be "harassed" by further emails. Yes, there are times that a database change, or other factors may result in further emails - but my experience is that if this addressed in the first part of the body of the email most are willing to forgive you.
I am ALMOST ready to bet my paycheck that this slimeball never intended to respect the wishes of those that he emailed. that any requests to remove a name from the list took months to process.