Apparently, it’s “patriotic” to spam Guilford County residents.
My old email address (that I use for junk registrations) must be on Marcus Kindley’s purchased email list. So I received an invitation to join fellow “Patriots” for a pay-trip to DC on 4/15 for a Tea Party event of some sort at the Washington Monument. So much about this is humorous; however, some of it may be illegal or quasi-legal, depending upon whether or not the organization is registered as a political committee or as a PAC. Or not registered at all.
The tacky email states there is an “Informed voter mailing list” and when you follow the link – which, legally, should be to unsubscribe from a list I never subscribed to – it takes you to the Informed Voters of NC mailing list page (a free tool known as “mailman” and is as old as hills, tech-time), as if my email has already been entered into their invitation email. It’s my understanding that double opt-in invitations are legal (I have to be asked if I want to join and then I get an email confirming it) and entering my email without such an invitation is a violation of most Internet providers’ Terms of Service (the legal status of the organization matters but almost every provider prohibits forged email or spam).
The funny part is that the script that takes my money for this “patriotic” trip was purchased from a group called “scripts for sale,” which is probably as secure as its name implies.
The signature is Marcus Kindley’s and the web site features a prominent link to his bio (it just doesn’t work yet). And the semi-hidden metatags on the home page are:
informed voter. North Carolina Republican, GOP, Marcus Kindley, NCGOP, Guilford county GOP, Politics in NC, Republican Clubs
Of course, I’ve never signed up for such a list. Click the image below to see how the To: line is forged/masked (see the headers and whois info (after the jump). If you got one, join me in reporting the spam to the FTC and to abuse@deltacom.com.
Domain Registrant: marcus kindley, 3300 Battleground Ave Suite 400. Greensboro, NC 27410 US
marcusk136@intercarolina.net (intercarolina.net is a financial services firm, also registered to Marcus Kindley) – 336-288-6890
Hosted by Deltacom – and let’s see what their Acceptable Use Policy [PDF] really means and it says, in part (and neatly applies to the email above):
Causing unsolicited messages (“Spam”) of any sort to be transmitted is prohibited. This prohibition includes, without limitation, unsolicited commercial messages, unsolicited advertising, or unsolicited informational announcements. This prohibition applies equally to Spam sent through or via the Deltacom network and to Spam sent over other networks, but which directs the recipient to sites hosted by or accessed through the use of the Deltacom Network.
For those who like to read Internet headers, see these after the jump – only the headers show you where the unsubscribe link is and most people could never find that, plus, I believe it’s illegal to hide unsubscribe information, physical location and a few other pertinent details:
