Consumers on the receiving end would probably say yes, as would many Internet service providers, which frequently adopt terms of service banning unsolicited bulk email as a measure to keep spammers off their networks.
But if a recent court decision is any indication, all may not be what it appears in the hotly contested world of Internet junk mail.
Last month, a New York state judge granted bulk e-mailer MonsterHut a temporary restraining order forcing ISP PaeTec Communications to allow the company to send commercial email over high-speed Internet pipes.
"PaeTec is painting us to be spammers and we're not," said Todd Pelow, chief executive at MonsterHut. "This is a simple breach of contract."
Few spammers, if any, would agree to the reviled label, of course. But the MonsterHut case highlights gray areas that are opening up in the world of commercial bulk email as some in the industry seek to cast off their shady pasts and go legit.
The dispute also illustrates the sensitivity surrounding bulk email and the mounting tensions between email marketers and the ISPs that are essential to their livelihood. Under the gun to deliver profits, ISPs are increasingly trying to land the big-fish customers that can buy high-speed Internet lines worth up to tens of thousands of dollars a month.
In the worst case, ISPs have resorted to signing what's known as "pink contracts," or addendums to acceptable-use policies that allow the marketer to send spam or host a spam-related Web site on its network in exchange for "danger money," or for a higher fee because of the risk involved. Late last year, AT&T and PSINet separately acknowledged within days of each other use of pink contracts that violated their respective spam policies.
"When an ISP is hurting for revenue, as many are right now, they're more likely to take on an unsavory customer," said John Mozena, co-founder and vice president of the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email.
