Raoul Pop

Spam is one of the things I hate. I’ve written about it in the past (see this, this, this, and this). I expect to get spam from spammers, and I also expect Gmail to filter it out, which it does. But I also get spam from what are normally considered legitimate companies (web merchants, environmental action groups, tutorial websites, product websites and the like). Gmail doesn’t filter these messages out of my inbox, even though I don’t want them. Even though I try to unsubscribe from these companies’ mailing lists, and when I’ve had enough, report their messages as spam, somehow they still find their way back into my inbox.

I thought I’d out these companies, hoping they’ll change their spammy ways. Perhaps they don’t know how to maintain their mailing lists, or perhaps they don’t care if they offend a person or two here and there. Well, they should know how to do both things. Here they are, in no particular order:

• Pulse (Pulse Newsletter, newsletters@myeclipseide.com, pulse-list@genuitec.com). They don’t even offer a way to unsubscribe in their emails…
• Kelby Seminars (KelbySeminars@mail160.subscribermail.com, kt_mail@kelbymediagroup.com). I have no idea how I got on their mailing list, but they keep sending me ads for their seminars, which are of no interest to me.
• Majesty Press (Majesty News, admin@majesty.ro, majesty.box364.bluehost.com). I wrote to the Majesty Press owner and asked him to be taken off the list, specifying that I never asked to be added to it. He confirmed my removal from the list, only to start sending me stuff again a few months later.
• Contour Design (ergoinfo@contourdesign.com). I have no idea who they are, didn’t ask to be added to their list, and that means they’re spamming me.
  
• RegFly aka RegisterFly (ssl@regfly.com, admin@regfly.com, etc.). I used to manage my domains with them a few years ago, back when they were still legitimate. But the owner/manager/whatever held their servers for ransom for a couple of months after a spat with the management, and I almost lost my domains. They also lost their ICANN accreditation thanks to that stunt. I’ve since moved my domains to other registrars, but I keep getting emails from RegFly asking me to renew domains and SSL certs I used to host with them — clearly spam designed to get me to switch back, or to charge me for domains I’m already paying for elsewhere. One thing I can say for sure is you’re probably better off if you steer clear of this company altogether.
• DMXzone (news@dmxzone.com). Several years ago, I used to frequent this site’s forums — years ago… Yet I still get emails from them, and no matter what I do, I can’t unsubscribe. They keep spamming me to let me know of new happenings. I’m not interested, and I wish they’d stop.
• Jayde aka B2BSearchEngine (B2BSearchEngine@ientrynetwork.net, support@ientry.com). Years ago, I submitted my site to be indexed by their search engine, and now I can’t get off their mailing list. If a search engine engages in spammy behavior, it’s a good indication that it’s not helpful to submit your site to them or give them your email address. I don’t even know how many referrals I get from Jayde, but it doesn’t register any visible blip in my site’s statistics.
• OnlyWire (support@onlywire.com). I’ve already unsubscribed once from their mailing list, and it didn’t take. I did it again at the time of writing this article. We’ll see if it takes this time.
• EscapeArtist (list-mailer@escapeartist.com). I subscribed to their list a couple of years ago — it’s a magazine for those interested in overseas living. Now I can’t unsubscribe, or “escape”, if you will — I tried, but they keep sending me stuff which can now only be called spam, since I don’t want it anymore.
• Open Text Corporation (info@opentext.com, info@mktg.opentext.com). These guys emailed me out of the blue to let me know about one of their conferences. Seems to me the right thing to have done instead of spamming me was to ask me if I wanted to be added to their mailing list first, no? It doesn’t matter if I have experience in content management, you can’t just assume that I want to get your marketing emails.
• KnowledgeStorm.com (KnowledgeStorm@knowledgestorm.techtargetlists.com, webmaster@techtarget.com). This company has been spamming me for years. They certainly are persistent, if nothing else. I just can’t get off their mailing list. I tried, repeatedly, but they keep re-adding me and sending me crap. Persistence may be a virtue, but at some point, it turns into harassment.
• ReadyHosting (noreply@readyhosting-inc.com). I used to host some of my websites with them years ago. Ever since then, I’ve been placed onto one of their admin mailing lists, and I keep getting maintenance and outage notices. ReadyHosting, please stop it. I don’t care to hear about your server maintenance. I no longer host with you. Thanks.