It appears that some people here in Adland do not know the difference between a blatant spam ad and the links in the signature file.

Everyone has the opportunity to create a signature file in their profile.
The system adds your Signature file to every post and message you send.

You can see the separation of the body of your post / message and the Signature file as they are separated by a very thin but distinct line that runs across the post or message stopping just short of the side lines.

Any links BELOW the signature line are NOT spam ads, they are a legitimate part of your signature file.

When I get a message from someone, especially someone who I have NEVER had contact with previously, with a message telling me I can earn traffic or money with the words click here hyper linked to a site and there is nothing below the signature separator line then it is blatant spam.

If there are links BELOW the signature separator line then it is still spam but ONLY the link in the body of the message. NOT the ones below the line.

If it is a message that asks a question and the ONLY links in the message are below the line
then it is not spam.

On the other hand if the message contains a sales pitch with tells you to "see my signature file for details" or "Check my signature file for details" then it is spam.

Ouch,

i bet I've been guilty and I'm not a heavy advertiser.

I only ever offer opportunities that I BELIEVE in and would benefit my friends if they got involved but I'm sure I have been a spammer. Sorry, I'm chastised.

Thanks for your genuine monitoring of this situation.

Roger

Sounds like you've had a discussion with someone Bill. :)

When it comes to these things I defer between those that seem to do
it because they don't know any better and those that know what they
do and don't care.

Recently had a discussion with a woman that added me to her newsletter.
I know what I sign up for, so that's not a good idea.

When I confronted her about this, her only initial response was:
I have deleted you from my newsletter.

This is not good enough, so I tried to communicate further with her
about how I ended up in her newsletter and how she got her other subscribers.
The reply was: I have many sites and I don't know.

I tried to communicate more, and to learn the adress of these sites and
the process she used to get new subscribers, but she didn't want to
communicate with me anymore.

This was her first edition of her newsletter, and I am sure that if she
doesn't change something it will hurt her in many ways, sooner or later.

Too bad she didn't want to discuss this with me. :)

Hi Roger,

I am quite confident that you only send your information to those that HAVE given permission to you and HAVE built up a mutual trust of each other as is the case with you and I.

There are those that try to claim that my sig file is also spam. When I haul them over the coals for sending me spam ads.

So I figured out its time for some enlightenment for members in general.

Quote:

Ouch,

i bet I've been guilty and I'm not a heavy advertiser.

I only ever offer opportunities that I BELIEVE in and would benefit my friends if they got involved but I'm sure I have been a spammer. Sorry, I'm chastised.

Thanks for your genuine monitoring of this situation.

Roger

Hi Roger,

Yes and the woman concerned that prompted this post has a profile which can not be viewed so I would not consider doing any business with her anyway.

I received a spam ad with the signature file area a total blank.
I tried to look at the profile but you cant click on the senders name it to see.
So I replied with the simple question "Why cant I see your Profile" types in the body of the message.

This woman replied with the answer "I don't know" and included another spam ad to different program. Need less to say I am true to my word and as my profile warns she was reported to the programs.

She then tried to claim that my signature file was spam and asked what I thought about her reporting me to the programs.

Naturally I told her to go ahead as the complaint would not be upheld as they are in a legal signature file, not in the body of the message.
.
Your case sounds like blatant harvesting which is totally Illegal.
The problem is that there are Auto responder systems such as Aweber that have no code of ethics. They allow people to add email addresses manually , irrelevant of where the person got the emails from.

This is why I will only use and recommend the one I use. They DO have a code of ethics and there is absolutely no Manual adding of email addresses. the only way on to your mailing list with them is Confirmed (Double) opt in.

Quote:

Sounds like you've had a discussion with someone Bill. :)

When it comes to these things I defer between those that seem to do
it because they don't know any better and those that know what they
do and don't care.

Recently had a discussion with a woman that added me to her newsletter.
I know what I sign up for, so that's not a good idea.

When I confronted her about this, her only initial response was:
I have deleted you from my newsletter.

This is not good enough, so I tried to communicate further with her
about how I ended up in her newsletter and how she got her other subscribers.
The reply was: I have many sites and I don't know.

I tried to communicate more, and to learn the adress of these sites and
the process she used to get new subscribers, but she didn't want to
communicate with me anymore.

This was her first edition of her newsletter, and I am sure that if she
doesn't change something it will hurt her in many ways, sooner or later.

Too bad she didn't want to discuss this with me. :)