These E-mail addresses are for transacting legitimate business at ganesha.org, clausewitz.org, and ct-yankee.com. Individualized E-mail, i.e. mail that a person has taken his or her time to address as a unique E-mail, is not considered spam even if it is commercial in nature. Unsolicited bulk commercial E-mail (UCE or "spam") is unwelcome at any addresses in these domains. UCE is defined as any commerical E-mail that is:

1. Bulk, i.e. distributed to a mailing list of harvested addresses
2. If individualized, is obviously a form letter or computer-customized letter
• We are well aware of address harvesting programs that comb domain registries for addresses and, for example, address them to "ganesha.org" or even the owner of the domain.
3. Has forged headers whose purpose is to disguise the true origin
4. Any of the following (automatically)
• Pornography
• It's an open question as to whether sending pornography to business-related addresses could constitute sexual harassment if an employee considers it offensive. It may depend on the state from which it is sent and to which it is delivered. There are probably plenty of trial lawyers who might take an interest in finding out and, if you make the mistake of getting our attention, we will contact one.
• Make money fast schemes, chain letters, multilevel marketing (MLM)
• A mailing from firstlotto.co.kr which (although we can't read Korean here) looked like an ad for a foreign lottery (illegal in the U.S.) was recently (October 2002) forwarded to the U.S. Postal Inspection service, along with a Nigerian "419" scam. The Nigerians' misfortune was that the envelope for sending Firstlotto.co.kr to the Postal Inspector was open and still had room in it, so their E-mail (with full headers) went in as well. The senders made the mistake of getting our attention through repeated harassment, and you do not want our attention in this context.
• Viagra and other pharmacy-by-Internet ads
• Credit repair
• Mortgage counseling
• spamware (E-mail lists, software to facilitate spam, and offers to send spam)

The very best that the sender of such E-mail can hope is that it will be deleted unread but, by sending such material, the sender agrees to the contractual offer shown below (in addition to risking the usual consequences of spamming, i.e. reporting to service providers).

E-mail, even if commercial, that shows that a human sender has actually taken the time to prepare and address an individualized message, is not considered spam and the worst that will happen is that it will be deleted unread.

"In consideration of the domain owner's time (i.e. you are accepting the fact that my time is a consideration that is worth money or its equivalent) that is spent dealing with the UCE, the sender waives all rights to privacy and copyright protection related to the UCE. This means the sender is assigning me a nonexclusive license to use any images, text, or code in the spam or readily available (i.e. does not require a password to access) on the advertised Web site. Furthermore, you agree that any intellectual property or information (e.g. images) in UCE constitutes an unsolicited gift that I can use, resell, or give away."

1. If the spam contains images, or advertises your Web site that contains images, please be sure that the photo releases (e.g. models, owners of photographed property) allow you to sublicense the pictures to third parties. By sending me UCE, you are warranting that you are allowed to sublicense these pictures and you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold me harmless from any allegations of copyright infringement. If you are not entitled to sublicense such images, do not send me UCE. If you do not consider these terms acceptable, do not send me UCE. This does not constitute legal advice; if you have questions about the enforceability of this contract please contact an attorney.
• Assignment of copyright does not apply, of course, to web sites that are spamvertised without the owner's consent, i.e. where the spammer is not the owner or the owner's agent (affiliate). I am well aware of "revenge spams," sometimes known as "joe jobs."
2. This contractual offer is effective immediately (24 December, 2001) with respect to new addresses posted at ganesha.org and ct-yankee.com, as these addresses have not been added to any spam lists. It also applies to all other addresses in these domains as of 1 January, 2002, public notice having been given in news.admin.net-abuse.email on 12 December, 2001. Possessors of such mailing lists are advised to remove all addresses at ganesha.org and ct-yankee.com, and also wlevinso "at" ix.netcom.com.

Key Antispam Resources

• XWhoIs: domain lookup
• Sam Spade tools: OUTSTANDING
• UXN Spam Combat
• Links to other antispam resources

Note: spam, by itself, is not illegal. Do not waste law enforcement authorities' time by reporting ordinary spam or usenet abuse to them. Spam may be illegal, though, if it involves the following. (I am not a lawyer, and this does not constitute legal advice.)
Spam laws: Federal and State

For enforcement, the spammer and the spammee must often be in the same state, but not always. Some states can enforce laws against a nonresident who operates a computer within the state, or sends the spam through a computer in the state. Many of the states listed above also require opt-out instructions to be provided. The Internet community does not, however, recognize "opt out" as an acceptable alternative to not spamming in the first place.