Navigating Spam Control in Email Communication Era

1. Is email dead? Communicating with prospects and supporters in the era of spam control Dr. Bill Pease Chief Technology Officer, GetActive Software

2. Overview • Impact of spam • on the communication efforts of membership-based organizations • Permission-based messaging • what it means & how to do it • when it won’t work • Spam control • trends & technology • what to expect

3. Email at risk as a means of communication • Spam flood triggering rapid adoption of error-prone control measures • 75% of all email traffic in August was spam or virus • Control “at any cost” results in considerable “collateral damage” • Increasing chance that legitimate messaging will be blocked, routed into oblivion, or subjected to resource-intensive validation

4. Non-delivery a growing problem Return Path 2003 Blocking and Filtering Report

5. Impact on non-profits: • Your messages may not get through to your supporters • Your ability to prospect for new recruits via email is diminished • Your organization can be easily stigmatized as a spammer

6. Value of permission • To establish & maintain a trust relationship with supporters • To improve response rates • To defend the legitimacy of your messaging if challenged by ISP blocking, blacklisting, etc.

7. Obtaining permission • Request explicit permission whenever you collect email addresses • link brand or publication name to every opt-in request • document all opt-ins – especially those collected offline • Use double opt-in for online recruitment. Use confirmed opt-in at a minimum.

8. Questionable Opt-in without positive action Pre-checked opt-in Hidden opt-in Auto-adding to other lists – especially independent orgs Transferred opt-in List shares or buys Co-registration Indefensible Opt-out Email harvesting From web pages or directories E-pending To voter registration lists To any list source without permission List-building methods to avoid

9. Limits of permission (1) • Not easily verified • No current certification of organizations with true opt-in lists • Requires case-by-case white list negotiations • Not easily revoked • Opt-in best practices mimicked & contaminated by spammers, and undercut by ISP spam controls

10. Challenges to responsible subscription management

11. Limits of permission (2) • Consent model difficult to apply to prospecting • Messaging outreach to new audiences often must occur without prior consent • Ex: Voter outreach during a political campaign • Recognize that a different consent standard applies to email vs. direct mail or phone

12. Social trends in spam control • Throw the baby out with the bathwater • Benefit of blocking offensive spam outweighs risk of non-delivery of legitimate email • Guilty until proven innocent • No special exemptions for messaging to members, for political or charitable appeals, etc. • Vigilantism • Private action required to stop spam; government action will only make it worse

13. Legal trends in spam control • Pending federal legislation • Define unacceptable practices • No false headers/subjects or email harvesting, must have functioning opt-out • Content labeling • Do-not-email registry • Proliferating state legislation • To date, most include exemptions for non-profit messaging • Debate over federal pre-emption, private right to action

14. Technical trends in spam control • Rapid adoption of client-side spam controls to protect inbox • Difficult to optimize messaging to avoid false stigmatization by different systems • Accessing each subscriber’s inbox requires resource-intensive investigation & negotiation • Increased reliance on distributed spam identification systems • Greater potential for gamed stigmatization

15. By Origin Blacklist of suspect spam sources Whitelist of approved senders Sender authentication Challenge-response Delivery characteristics By Content Key words Tip-off headers, tags, urls Bayesian or adaptive filtering Collaborative filtering How spam is identified

16. Control systems are complex and highly variable: • Identification can involve various parties: • Recipient • Detection services (blocklists, content flagging) • Distributed audiences (subscriber or peer-to-peer voting) • Responses can be applied at different levels in mail transfer: • Internet service provider • Email service provider • Recipient’s email client • Variety of responses can follow spam id: • Accept • Quarantine • Reject • Drop • Label • Challenge • Limit rate • Feedback to detection services • Charge • Legal prosecution • Malicious response

17. No standards available to rationalize spam control • Established email standards flouted to battle spammers • SMTP considered source of problem due to lack of sender authentication and trust framework • No feedback on delivery attempts; gamed use of error codes • Efforts to establish new standards plagued with controversy • Consent-based framework for email exchange • Interoperability standards between different control systems

18. “Solutions” proliferating • Challenge-response systems • prove a human manages the list • Deliverability services • message checker, blacklist detection, and mailbox placement services • Trusted sender programs • certify permission-based lists • Bonded sender programs • back up opt-in claims with monetary bond

19. What to expect (1) • Increasing accountability for your organization’s list building & messaging practices • Reputation based on measurable performance of dedicated mailer IP(s) • Growing threat to brand identity from being stigmatized as a spammer, or “joe jobbed” by a spammer • Increasing costs to use email • Higher costs to acquire opt-in names & manage response to spam controls • Possible costs of third-party certification or authenticated messaging

20. What to expect (2) • Changes to online prospecting practices • Strict limits on epending • Less use of co-registration to build lists • Decline in email viral marketing yields • virus/spam controls pose a serious threat to tell-a-friend email • Expanded use of online prospecting tools like search-keyword ads and interactive banner ads • Experimentation with alternatives to email for newsletter distribution • RSS syndication to news aggregators

21. Links - General • Best Spam Resources • http://spamnews.com/blog/spamNEWS/index.html • http://www.paulgraham.com/antispam.html • http://spam.abuse.net • Spam Legislation & Regulation • http://www.spamlaws.com/us.html • http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/spam/index.html • Anti-Spam Tools in Use • http://spamotomy.com/ • http://www.consumerreports.org/main/detailv2.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=322713&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=162693&bmUID=1057709143469 • Anti-Spam Activism • http://spamlinks.port5.com/spamlinks.htm • http://www.cauce.org/ • http://www.spamhaus.org/ • http://www.mail-abuse.org/

22. Links - Practical • Check Your Spam Status • http://www.senderbase.org/search • http://www.spamvertized.org/ • Avoiding Spam Filters • http://www.emailsherpa.com/barrier.cfm?currentID=2125 • http://www.emailsherpa.com/barrier.cfm?currentID=80 • http://ezine-tips.com/articles/management/20020812.shtml • http://www.newsletterindustry.com/newsletterindustry-57-20021218AvoidingtheSpamTrap.html • Challenge-Response • http://blogs.onenw.org/jon/archives/000450.html • http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1204684,00.asp • http://www.templetons.com/brad/spam/challengeresponse.html • http://kmself.home.netcom.com/Rants/challenge-response.html