I have a site, I about to offer a few emails to people so that they can recruit members for me. The people I am offering emails to are well from the net. Should I risk it? how do I make it work right? My host has a 0 tolerance policy for spamming so if one of my guys with spam..Will it cause the host to delete my account if reported? Just a question if anyone have experience or want to give advice. My thanks in advance. I need to know!!!!
I do assume the list you are going to send are come from over the internet, retrieved by software and not coming from normal opt-in process. If yes, I would say that is a high risk. You could be sued even only one letter was being sent and recipient do report to your hosting as "email spam activity". Even your hosting company did not state about "spam" term in their policy but it still a risk. Sometime hosting company, even a big one, has been forced to close some of their customer account due to such an activity. If they do nothing, all of their IP will have been blacklisted from doing business and they have to do it finally. Here is the reason why most of web hosting companies have to obey the rule - FTC - SPAM and this one is the most they do feared - The CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business
Don't get me wrong I can't abide spammers, and I spend a lot of my time with anti-spam tools making sure our customers get as little spam in their inbox as possible, but I'm also aware that email is an effective communications tool. We have a zero-tolerance policy regarding spam and a reseller's account is in jeopardy if one of their users sends spam. We also run an anti-hijack system on our email servers that helps to reduce the chances of a spammer signing up with us and being successful in sending a lot of spam. But....I don't really have an issue with someone sending a one-off introductory message to a few carefully selected prospective business partners. I tend to view Spamhaus's definition of spam as being a fair and balanced guide when determining what is, and what isn't, spam - http://www.spamhaus.org/definition.html - and a message of this type is commercial, is unsolicited, but it isn't a bulk email. It's a matter of scale, content, and intention. It is entirely possible to comply with the CAN-SPAM Act and still be sending nuisance email that is definitely SPAM. How often are we told NOT to confirm email addresses by clicking on "removal" links, so by not clicking on the removal link we are providing implicit permission for that person to continue to send these emails which tend to be part of a bulk sending process. On the other hand, a one-off message to a few companies or individuals introducing yourself and your services, while blatantly commecial and not necessarily complying with the CAN-SPAM Act (i.e. it doesn't contain removal information because it is a one-off), couldn't really be considered SPAM if using Spamhaus's definition. It's a tricky area and if you're not sure don't do it. Otherwise tell your host what you want to do and ask them their views.
Maybe I should do that. Thank you for the advice about asking host. Tricky area.. I was about to let a few have emails so they can do some "advertising" for me. But if it might get me kicked out...I rather not.