[plug] [OT] Australian Spam Act

[Onno Benschop]

On Wed, 2004-06-23 at 10:30, Simon Newton wrote:
> He told me that if my address was in their database before the 10th
> April 2003, the laws did not apply. (I can find no mention of this on
> the ACA pages)

Uhm, that is not correct AFAIK. I know of several organisations who
collect data using competitions and they were required to throw out
their databases when these laws were changed. But, I may be incorrect.


> He also told me that because it contains a working unsubscribe link and
> the identity of the sender, it is not classed as spam.

No, that just means he's trying to fly under the radar.


> I told him about the fact that the email was only listed on a handful of
> websites and that they were obviously using a screen scraper of some
> sort and his response was "oh, you wouldn't believe where email
> addresses are on the internet".

He just admitted to "collecting your address".

> * Consent - either express consent, or consent may be inferred from your
> conduct and ‘existing business or other relationships’

If you have never dealt with this organisation at all, then there is no
relationship.


> Anyway I've lodged a complaint with the ACA, with the number of
> complaints they must receive everyday, I doubt it will amount to
> anything though.

Seeing that you contacted them and they were unrepentant, this action is
correct. I've found the ACA to be responsive in the past.


> My feeling is that if the company is willing to put its contact details
> and ABN on the email either they're extremely stupid, or confident that
> they are within the law.

I suspect it is more a case of bravado, rather than legal.

For what it's worth, I actively follow up on Australian SPAM and will
continue to do so. I generally contact their ISP first. 

Cheers,

Onno Benschop 

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