I have a dedicated server (Linux, 700 Mhz, 128 ram) and would like to be able to send out about 6,000 emails. How would I do this? Would I have any probelms? This is not spam email. Thanks

Its very hard to say that bulk mailing is not spam these days because someone will always complain about it. Most hosts will think you are spamming even if you are just sending out a mailing list to a few people who want to get the mailings. The question always remains... did they really want to get the mail in the first place?



Maps has some pretty nice guidelines for bulk mailings:

--snip--
Guidelines

The following guidelines are offered as a statement of Internet standards and best current practices for proper mailing list management.

* Permission of new subscribers must be fully verified before mailings commence. This is usually accomplished by means of an email message sent to the subscriber to which s/he must reply, or containing a URL which s/he must visit, in order to complete the subscription. However it is implemented, a fundamental requirement of all lists is for verification of all new subscriptions.
* There must be a simple method to terminate a subscription. Mailing list administrators must provide a simple method for subscribers to terminate their subscriptions, and administrators should provide clear and effective instructions for unsubscribing from a mailing list. Mailings from a list must cease promptly once a subscription is terminated.
* There should be alternative methods for terminating a subscription. Mailing list administrators should make an "out of band" procedure (e.g., an email address to which messages may be sent for further contact via email or telephone) available for those who wish to terminate their mailing list subscriptions but are unable or unwilling to follow standard automated procedures.
* Undeliverable addresses must be removed from future mailings. Mailing list administrators must ensure that the impact of their mailings on the networks and hosts of others is minimized. One of the ways this is accomplished is through pruning invalid or undeliverable addresses.
* Mail volume must take recipient systems into account. List administrators must take steps to ensure that mailings do not overwhelm less robust hosts or networks. For example, if the mailing list has a great number of addresses within a particular domain, the list administrator should contact the administrator for that domain to discuss mail volume issues.
* Steps must be taken to prevent use of a mailing list for abusive purposes. The sad fact is that mailing lists are used by third parties as tools of revenge and malice. Mailing list administrators must take adequate steps to ensure that their lists cannot be used for these purposes. For example, administrators can maintain a "suppression list" of email addresses from which all subscription requests are rejected. Addresses would be added to the suppression list upon request by the parties entitled to use the addresses at issue. The purpose of the suppression list would be to prevent forged subscription of addresses by unauthorized third parties. Such suppression lists should also give properly authorized domain administrators the option to suppress all mailings to the domains for which they are responsible.
* Terms and conditions of address use must be fully disclosed. Mailing list administrators must make adequate disclosures about how subscriber addresses will be used, including whether or not addresses are subject to sale or trade with other parties. Also, conditions of use should be visible and obvious to the potential subscriber. For example, two lines buried deep within a license agreement do not constitute adequate disclosure.
* Acquired lists must be used for their original purpose. Those who are acquiring fully verified opt-in lists must examine the terms and conditions under which the addresses were originally compiled and determine that all recipients have in fact opted-in to the type mailing list the buyer intends to operate.
* The nature and frequency of mailings should be fully disclosed. List administrators should make adequate disclosures about the nature of their mailing lists, including the subject matter of the lists and anticipated frequency of messages. A substantive change in the frequency of mailings, or in the size of each message, may constitute a new and separate mailing list requiring a separate subscription.
* One subscription, one list. Addresses should not be added to other lists without fully verified consent of the address owner. It should never be assumed that subscribers to a list about foo want to be added to another foo list, let alone a list about goo. A notification about the new mailing list may be appropriate on the existing mailing list, but existing subscribers should never be subscribed automatically to the new list.
--snip--

Thank you for that info!

I disagree, bdraco. It is easy to say. The problem is that too many people misuse the term spam to include anything they don't like.

Spam is not unsolicited e-mail.
Spam is not bulk e-mail.
Spam is not commercial e-mail.

Spam is unsolicited bulk e-mail, regardless of whether it is commercial or not.

Spam is also not a company advertising themselves here inappropriately. It lacks that bulk component. Call it a plug, but not spam.

Sites like CAUCE, MAPS, and others have more information on it, and the links on them.

CAUSE http://www.cauce.org
MAPS http://mail-abuse.org
Spam Canners http://members.tripod.com/~SpamCanners

[Edited by Duster on 02-04-2001 at 12:45 PM]

Originally posted by Duster
I disagree, bdraco. It is easy to say. The problem is that too many people misuse the term spam to include anything they don't like.

Spam is not unsolicited e-mail.
Spam is not bulk e-mail.
Spam is not commercial e-mail.

Spam is unsolicited bulk e-mail, regardless of whether it is commercial or not.

Spam is also not a company advertising themselves here inappropriately. It lacks that bulk component. Call it a plug, but not spam.


Sorry if I wasn't clear, my point was that if people don't like it, they immediatly call it SPAM.

Originally posted by everyone
I have a dedicated server (Linux, 700 Mhz, 128 ram) and would like to be able to send out about 6,000 emails. How would I do this? Would I have any probelms?

Aside from the, what is/isn't spam issue, can anyone address the question?

Is spam as far as mailing spam in the dictionary?? If not then I think its open to interprutation. I for instace DO feel strongly that any email I did not request that is markting a product or service is spam, because if they sent me a email which I did not request then they got it form somewhere, and from that somewhere they got many others email address which they sent that same piece of email, hence spam..

everyone,

There are services like Topica http://topica.com that allow you to create and send out your own newsletters and mailings. There are also mailing programs that allow you to send it from your own server.

bdraco,

Now that I understand your meaning, I completely agree. One of the problems regarding spam is that too many people misuse the term to include anything at all they don't like, which greatly blurs the meaning.

cbaker17,

I disagree. Dictionaries often lag behind on technical terms and may not give an accurate definition of many words. Even using unabridged dictionaries, you might have a hard time finding accurate definitions of dwarf and midget, as an example.

There is little room for interpretation of e-mail spam. It has been well defined by the Internet community a few years a back and you can find accurate descriptions on many anti-spam sites. I referenced some above.

The example you gave is a common and usually incontrovertible of spam with hardly any room for misinterpretation. However, there are cases where it might not be spam and merely an unsolicited announcement directed to a single e-mail address.

Originally posted by Duster
Dictionaries often lag behind on technical terms and may not give an accurate definition of many words...

Well since we're still off track, I'll throw in my $19.95 plus $4.50 S&H... Also note that no matter *what* the actual definition is now, many words evolve in their meanings and I can see this happening in this case. Misuse of a word, often leads to it becoming the meaning of the word. And them there's the facts jack.

Some words are just misused (which makes you cringe), but ask me in 100 years what spam means... :)

i think 6000 emails are spam if they are unsollicited.the only nice way to do bulk emails is to work 'opt-in '.signing up people for your mewsletter ezine etc.
another way of doing a lot of emailing without spamming is by using a little program called 2bpop.
http://www.2bpop.com it's a free tool.
i have used it quite a bit and the results are very good.cheers
peter v

Originally posted by peterv
...another way of doing a lot of emailing without spamming is by using a little program called 2bpop....


Peter, I checked the tool 2bpop you have mentioned. I am looking for a house from last few days and every night surfing net for online listings if any. Everyday sending 4/5 emails for further details. But while playing with this tool I sent more than 38 emails in few minutes. Thanks for sharing this with us.
But you can't claim that you can send lots of email with out spamming using this tool. It will depend up on user, whether to use it for spamming for good reason. What if I would have sent my commercial emails to those people instead of queries regarding houses; that would be spamming!

[Edited by shobraj on 02-08-2001 at 01:07 AM]

sure thing but it is a tool that helps you to at least send emails to people with an interest in what you are doing.
and you're not bulk emailing indiscriminately.it's 1 on 1, and you have visited their site.as with anything use your discression.
cheers
peterv

The purpose of this is NOT SPAM. The user will have the option to join and leave. A user will not be added until they confirm an email.