On Mon, 29 Oct 2001 08:46:09 EST, Leo Bicknell <bicknell@ufp.org> said:
Unsolicited, Commercial, and E-mail all have precise definitions.
We've got commercial and e-mail nailed down enough for the lawyers. Unsolicited? Umm.. 47 USC 227 (which includes the "junk fax" law) says (47 USC 227(a)(3)): * (3) The term ''telephone solicitation'' means the initiation of a telephone call or message for the purpose of encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services, which is transmitted to any person, but such term does not include a call or message (A) to any person with that person's prior express invitation or permission, (B) to any person with whom the caller has an established business relationship, or (C) by a tax exempt nonprofit organization. What exactly does "established business relationship" mean in the context of (for example) the NANOG mailing list? (Note that once there is a business relationship, there's no requirement that the solicitation has to be related - I continually get calls from various financial institutions plugging other services) No, I don't know the answer here - but it would probably go along with "membership in the same professional society" or "same country club" or similar. However, I've seen enough user's groups and similar that have "thou shalt not recruit/advertise/etc" rules that I have to suspect such behavior is otherwise legal (although slimy and frowned upon). /Valdis