I feel -- so *special*
Sunday, October 10th, 2004 05:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rolanniJust received spam from an outfit called Penknife Press. A unsolicited "sample chapter", which begins:
A Feast of Peonies
by
Obi
II
Copyright (c) 2003 by Obi
Usually, it was you, Jame and Li'l Bo. Jame was the oldest at seven;
Li'l Bo was the youngest, five. You were cousins. They were first
cousins; they were your second cousins. But at Big Ma's house you were
more like brothers. Jame had real brothers, three of them. Harold Junior,
who was older than Jame, and John and Wallace, who were both younger. But
you were special. You were the Three Musketeers; you were tall in the
saddle; you were Hoppy, Gene and Roy.
Big Ma was their grandmother. She was your great aunt. Back then,
you didn't know what a great aunt was, so she was just Big Ma, the woman
who was older than your own mothers and who told your mothers what to do.
You threatened Big Ma once, back when you thought she was just another
grownup. Big Ma had chastised you unjustly-- at least in your mind-- and
you threatened to tell your mama. "Ah'm the mama around here," she told
you. "Ah'm the big mama." You told your mama anyway, just like you had
threatened. Mama laughed at you, and from then on, you knew who the real
boss was.
...and goes on for Some Time. After it All, we have a note from The Publisher, to wit:
This message is being sent to a list of selected members of the literary community.
This list is ONLY used for Penknife Press notifications.
TO BE REMOVED FROM THE MAILING LIST, send a message from the address to be removed to opt-out@penknifepress.com with the word UNSUBSCRIBE as the subject and the first line of the message.
To Opt In, send an email message to opt-in@penknifepress.com with the word SUBSCRIBE as the subject and the first line of the message.
If you CANNOT reply FROM THE ADDRESS TO BE REMOVED, send the message to publisher@penknifepress.com and be sure to include the address to be removed in the message somewhere.
DO NOT SEND ANY OTHER E-MAILS TO THIS ADDRESS OR TO Fans@Penknifepress.com. THEY ARE ONLY READ BY A COMPUTER, NOT A HUMAN BEING.
- The Publisher
Copyright (c) 2003 by Penknife Press, Ltd.
******
I consider such spam to be an intrusion, and I consider Opt-Out to be high in the Top Ten in terms of Electronic Rudeness. Opt-in is the way polite people do business on the internet.
EDITED: To add author's copyright notice
by
Obi
II
Copyright (c) 2003 by Obi
Usually, it was you, Jame and Li'l Bo. Jame was the oldest at seven;
Li'l Bo was the youngest, five. You were cousins. They were first
cousins; they were your second cousins. But at Big Ma's house you were
more like brothers. Jame had real brothers, three of them. Harold Junior,
who was older than Jame, and John and Wallace, who were both younger. But
you were special. You were the Three Musketeers; you were tall in the
saddle; you were Hoppy, Gene and Roy.
Big Ma was their grandmother. She was your great aunt. Back then,
you didn't know what a great aunt was, so she was just Big Ma, the woman
who was older than your own mothers and who told your mothers what to do.
You threatened Big Ma once, back when you thought she was just another
grownup. Big Ma had chastised you unjustly-- at least in your mind-- and
you threatened to tell your mama. "Ah'm the mama around here," she told
you. "Ah'm the big mama." You told your mama anyway, just like you had
threatened. Mama laughed at you, and from then on, you knew who the real
boss was.
...and goes on for Some Time. After it All, we have a note from The Publisher, to wit:
This message is being sent to a list of selected members of the literary community.
This list is ONLY used for Penknife Press notifications.
TO BE REMOVED FROM THE MAILING LIST, send a message from the address to be removed to opt-out@penknifepress.com with the word UNSUBSCRIBE as the subject and the first line of the message.
To Opt In, send an email message to opt-in@penknifepress.com with the word SUBSCRIBE as the subject and the first line of the message.
If you CANNOT reply FROM THE ADDRESS TO BE REMOVED, send the message to publisher@penknifepress.com and be sure to include the address to be removed in the message somewhere.
DO NOT SEND ANY OTHER E-MAILS TO THIS ADDRESS OR TO Fans@Penknifepress.com. THEY ARE ONLY READ BY A COMPUTER, NOT A HUMAN BEING.
Copyright (c) 2003 by Penknife Press, Ltd.
******
I consider such spam to be an intrusion, and I consider Opt-Out to be high in the Top Ten in terms of Electronic Rudeness. Opt-in is the way polite people do business on the internet.
EDITED: To add author's copyright notice
Me too
Date: 2004-11-08 06:28 am (UTC)Get frustrated with all of that and post in their forum that they are not providing any opt-out... and they tell you that according to the can spam act they are doing everything legally - no offer to unsubscribe, no appologies, just denial - and more spam.
I've reported them to the FTC, but I doubt that anything will become of it... so I now resort to filling up google with more negative search results than positive on searches for penknifepress.
They are spammers, so let the world know it.