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is it legal to sell an email list?

Discussion in 'Legal Issues' started by LindaAdams, Jul 8, 2008.

  1. #1
    I have a list of 200million emails and I am wanting to sell it.....would this be illegal??

    they are not opt-in btw....
     
    LindaAdams, Jul 8, 2008 IP
  2. eddy2099

    eddy2099 Peon

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    #2
    No, if they are harvested or taken without the email owners explicit permission for distribution.

    It would appear that the only use for such a mailing list would be for Unsolicited Commercial Emails or Spam, such activities are frown upon and in some places it may be deemed illegal.

    It is probably not a good idea to do it.
     
    eddy2099, Jul 8, 2008 IP
  3. TheOwner

    TheOwner Active Member

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    #3
    No ! It won't be legal to do it. As it may be harvesting spam.
     
    TheOwner, Jul 9, 2008 IP
  4. mlkshake

    mlkshake Peon

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    #4
    Illegal, you must have them opt-in and agree to your terms and your terms must say what you intend to do with them.
     
    mlkshake, Jul 11, 2008 IP
  5. brandon272

    brandon272 Peon

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    #5
    Depends on how you acquired the list.
     
    brandon272, Jul 11, 2008 IP
  6. Joseph S

    Joseph S Well-Known Member

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    #6
    LindaAdams, would you like me to sell your e-mail address to some spamming company? I suppose not, so... even if it would be legal, it`s not nice.
    What you could do is to ask people to give you their permission to mail them spam, and share the revenue with them.
     
    Joseph S, Jul 12, 2008 IP
  7. RectangleMan

    RectangleMan Notable Member

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    #7
    Depends also on where you live. Obviously if you live in India there probably aren't laws concerning spam, privacy or email lists. However in USA there are laws that protect the privacy of it's citizens.
     
    RectangleMan, Jul 12, 2008 IP
  8. Rory M

    Rory M Peon

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    #8
    It depends on what your Privacy Policy said on registration :)
     
    Rory M, Jul 12, 2008 IP
  9. Norrad

    Norrad Well-Known Member

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    #9
    Legally you can sell it if the subscribers opted in and you specifically stated in your terms that you would be able to resell their details. Ethically I wouldn't say it is right though.
     
    Norrad, Jul 12, 2008 IP
  10. birdsq

    birdsq Peon

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    #10

    LOL , Great idea Joseph :eek:
     
    birdsq, Jul 12, 2008 IP
  11. Dreads

    Dreads Well-Known Member

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    #11
    Hence Those "get paid to read emails" sites...

    Anyhow you could "share" the information to an another company :p
     
    Dreads, Jul 12, 2008 IP
  12. EbayPower

    EbayPower Banned

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    #12
    .end of story now sell it mwah mwah mwah
     
    EbayPower, Jul 12, 2008 IP
  13. danephillips

    danephillips Peon

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    #13
    Illegal that funny since the Big companies do it all the time .
     
    danephillips, Feb 17, 2010 IP
  14. Wizza

    Wizza Well-Known Member

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    #14
    As a few others have said - it depends on how the email address' was aquired.

    If it was aquired by them accepting terms then yes its legal but unpopular with the people your emailing.
     
    Wizza, Feb 17, 2010 IP
  15. danger boy

    danger boy Active Member

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    #15
    I agree with wizza it depends on how the email adress was aquired.
     
    danger boy, Feb 17, 2010 IP
  16. MatrixGodFather

    MatrixGodFather Peon

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    #16
    i would think it would be ok sense you are in india
     
    MatrixGodFather, Feb 17, 2010 IP
  17. affilorama

    affilorama Active Member

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    #17
    On some big companies' sites, they have opt ins to receive material from "partners" on the sign up pages.
     
    affilorama, Feb 17, 2010 IP
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  18. killaklown

    killaklown Well-Known Member

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    #18
    Opted-In Emails = Legal to spam (CAN-SPAM)
    Non Opted-In Emails = Illegal to spam
     
    killaklown, Feb 19, 2010 IP
  19. xous

    xous Active Member

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    #19
    Hi,

    This depends on what the person agreed to when they provided you their email address.

    The hosting company I work for considers using bought "marketing lists" is spamming and customers caught using or selling these lists are terminated.
     
    xous, Feb 19, 2010 IP
  20. sebech

    sebech Peon

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    #20
    It it legal but I wouldn't do it. Just imagine if you were one of those emails owner. Getting all that spam.
     
    sebech, Feb 19, 2010 IP