personal use of email addresses

[twistmypix]

If I came across a list of many email addresses, would it be a violation or even able to be labeled as "spam" if I sent an email (from my personal address) that provided a link to a website with general information and would it change the view on this if I had a "donation" button on the site. The site wouldn't be for a company, rather me as an individual...

 

[cbg]

What kind of "general information" and to what cause would the donations be going?

 

[twistmypix]

I'd like to leave that general so I'm not giving my ideas away. Would it be spam if I send a personal email and the email isn't promoting a business?

 

[mightymoose]

Yes, your unsolicited mass mailings would be spam. The nature of the website is not all that important- it is the nature of the email that makes it spam.

 

[twistmypix]

@moose - Does it matter if you have the opt out link in the email and it's not for a business? Can-Spam is "commercial" so where's the separation?

 

[mightymoose]

The opt out link would not change anything. In fact, the people you are mailing likely never opted in.

Unsolicited mass mailings are spam, regardless of the content.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

The opt out link would not change anything. In fact, the people you are mailing likely never opted in.

Unsolicited mass mailings are spam, regardless of the content.

These lists are usually scraped from somewhere without the owner's permission. They are frequently sold on Internet marketing websites and people claim to use them, etc. However the answers given here are right on target. If you buy marketing lists, get them from a good source that has verified that the user has opted in at some juncture to receive these emails and provide the link to opt out of your mailings.