By Bob Osgoodby, adv-marketing.com

To help combat unsolicited commercial email (UCE), many ISP's (Internet Service Providers) are installing content filters which automatically relegates anything "they think" is spam to trash, and the message never gets delivered to the intended recipient - you.

Sounds good on the surface, but the problem is that there is no personal judgment at the level of the ISP to determine if a note is spam or not. They have installed content filters that "dump" any email that happens to match the keywords they have installed. How dare they determine what I should receive or not receive. Because a word in the note (or the length of the note) met their reject parameters, they will not deliver it? This is wrong!

Shame on them! I don't know about you, but I don't want my ISP acting like "big brother" on my behalf, and determining what I should read and what I shouldn't.

If you suddenly don't receive what you have been receiving in the past that you do want, contact your ISP to see if they are using content filters and tell them to "cease and desist".

I do agree that spam is not only a nuisance, but is a daily problem that takes my time to sort through and get rid of the "junk" I didn't ask for, and don't want to get. But let me make that determination. I can set up filters that automatically delete email I don't wish to get myself. I don't need, nor do I want someone else making that decision on my behalf.

It has been reported to me that some ISPs are blocking newsletters that people have asked to receive. Some investigation turned up that certain words were on their "banned" list and they appeared in the newsletter. Each one of our publications for example, includes a medical column by a prominent Doctor. Will there be words in that column that match the filters these "self appointed guardians of email" have installed - Sure. Will the newsletters exceed some magical length they have determined to be spam - Right again. Is this spam - No!

How about an email constructed in an HTML format? Some ISPs automatically delete anything without text in the body of the email - wrong. Others will delete something sent out as bulk mail where the "To" address is different from the actual address of the person receiving it. Most newsletters with a large circulation don't have the time to personally address each one, and use bulk mail instead, and the addresses are going to be different.

The "Can Spam Act" is a failure. We still receive email with false header information. I received an ad the other day for a mortgage supposedly sent by me to me - sure. Deceptive subject lines abound and most have no opt-out method. The message should also contain clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation, and it also must include their valid physical postal address.

Why is it a failure - why not ask your elected representatives. Some suggest that the domains of the spam houses are blocked. Get real! Domains are a dime a dozen. If one gets blocked they simply use another.

The early days of the Internet, which were the sole property of the academicians where spam was anathema, are over. The Internet is ideally suited to support e-commerce, which it does very well. Online advertising is now a way of life.

Now - don't feel I am supporting spam but for goodness sake, I don't want someone else monitoring my email and determining what I should read or not read. I was in Florida this Spring and the only ISP I had available was AOL. Now I don't use AOL on a regular basis and was trying to send email through their server using my own email software. It was being intercepted and blocked and I was never notified that it wasn't sent.

How many legitimate emails do we have to "not get" because others are making that decision for us. How many requests for information should get "blown away" because the reply violated some ISP's spam filters. My feeling is that they should get over it, and not be the self-appointed guardians of my inbox.

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