Subject: Adverts draft

From: Sally Hambridge <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 16:00:23 PDT

IETF-RUNNERS:

I'm taking a few days of vacation (I'm returning to
work on Oct 7)  so I thought I would send this out and
you could respond to it over the next few weeks.

It still needs some work - I'm not at all sure I've
gotten the draft into the shape and format proposed
at the LA meeting.  (Anyone remember that far back?)

And Donald's info is out of date.

Anyway - Have at it!
Sally
[email-masked]

IETF RUN Working Group                          Sally Hambridge
Internet-Draft                                  Intel Corp. SC11-321
draft-ietf-run-adverts-01.txt                   2200 Mission College Blvd
Expires April, 1999                             Santa Clara, CA 95052

                                                Donald Eastlake 3rd
                                                318 Acton Street
                                                Carlisle, MA 01741 USA

        $$$$$           MAKE ENEMIES FAST       $$$$$
                              or
               How to advertise responsibly using the Internet
                        [Insert I-D Boilerplate Here]

0. Abstract

         Contrary to popular belief, the Internet did not spring
fully-clothed from Zeus's head, but it did grow like kudzu.  This
growth engendered a large new user population some of whom are
more than willing to use the Internet in ways for which it was
never intended.  This seems to be especially true about people
who are new to the Internet and see it as the perfect advertising
vehicle.  Those people are sure to "make enemies fast" by sending
mass unsolicited mailing or posting advertisements heedlessly
to news groups.  This document gives some guidelines and advice
about how to advertise responsibly using the Internet.

1. Introduction

        A lot of the population which is new to the Internet think
that the Internet "old guard" (defined as anyone who was using the
Internet before the invention of web browsers) are diametrically
opposed to using the Internet for advertising.  This is not true.
But in general, Internet culture opposes use of the
network in irresponsible ways and this usually includes
people who advertise by sending unsolicited information to Netnews
groups and Internet mailing lists.   People who "spam" mailing
lists and Netnews groups depend on the cooperative nature of
the Internet protocols as they were developed during times
when there were no Internet advertisers.  The protocols
do not associate costs with volume of messages sent.
Although it makes the Internet an attractive medium for
advertising (because it seems cheap), it really shifts the
cost from the sender to the recipient.  The recipient pays for
connectivity, for the cost of downloading the message, for
disk space, and for the time needed to deal with the mail.
The sender bears a very small fraction of the overall cost.
This is why many Internet citizens have come to think of
receiving unsolicited mail as "theft of service".   It
has also come to be called "Internet Pollution."

        There is money to be made through Internet advertising
(although surveys show that selling goods and services on the
Internet is not as rewarding as selling routers and network
connections - as it was more rewarding during the Gold Rush in
California to sell shovels and Levis(R).)  This document recommends
ways to advertise on the Internet which will not engender hate-mail
or threats of law-suits.  It does not guarantee freedom from those
things, but it should reduce the volume of any complaints you might
receive to a level with which most humans can cope.

2. Items and Areas to avoid

        Even though it is financially attractive to advertise
via mass unsolicited mail or by mass postings to netnews, AVOID
THIS TEMPTATION.  You may make money.  You make get some interested
customers.  You may expand your business.  But you will alienate
hundreds to thousands of people.  You will damage your credibility.
You may even lose your connectivity.  Advertising on the Internet
means taking responsibility for the persona you create.
Remember the Golden Rule (and in this case we do not mean the
version which states "he who has the gold makes the rule"):
treat others as you want to be treated.

        It is important for the Internet advertiser to maintain
a quality reputation for fairness, honesty, and integrity.  This
is dictated by the rate at which both information and disinformation
travel on the Internet.  If you get a reputation for being unfair,
dishonest, and fraudulent  DESERVED OR NOT it will take a very long time
for you to overcome the stigma.  With this in mind, you MUST NOT
in any way forge information in messages you send or in information
you post.  Changing the information about yourself or the machines
which handle your traffic in ways which obscure your true identity
(forging) is now illegal in several jurisdictions and people have
been successfully prosecuted.  Illegal or not, don't do it if
you want to maintain your spotless reputation.

        It is also unethical to use network resources of another
party or person without their express permission.  You MUST NOT
send mail through a mail host which belongs to anyone else without
their permission (mail relaying).

        Be very careful in soliciting information from
people on the Internet.  As the saying goes, "On the
Internet, nobody knows you're a dog" [1].  You will
not be able to tell from whom you are collecting information
and they may not be a legal adult. In other words, you may be
dealing with a nine-year old.

        Let people know you are collecting data and what you plan
to do with the information you are collecting.  Remember that
the laws on what is legal to collect vary from jurisdiction to
jurisdiction and make sure you understand these legal
implications.  As an example, it is illegal to collect trade-union
affiliations of people in the United Kingdom.  There are other
restrictions in other countries.

3. Know your target audience

        There are two parts to knowing your target audience:
ths first is to actually TARGET the audience; and the second is
getting to KNOW the audience.  As simple as this sounds, it seems
as if most Internet advertisers don't bother with either step.

        One feels that it should be obvious to all that marketing an
idea, goods, or services should be targeted at an audience which is
receptive to them.  Shotgunning your message doesn't really work in
any medium, but is much easier to do with the Internet than with
paper mail or telephone solicitations.  Just because you (as an
advertiser) don't pay an immediate fee for sending out unsolicited
ads doesn't mean you pay nothing.  You will pay in poor response time,
in being mail-bombed, in having your account pulled by your Internet
Service Provider, and in having your ISP's network "black-holed" by
other sites trying to stem the tide of unsolicited stuff.  All of this
is costly in time, if not in actual currency.  All this cost could be
avoided if you take the time to figure out WHO really needs to see
your message.  Do your research!  Find out WHICH Netnews groups are
discussing topics in your area of interest; use the search engines
such as Yahoo, Lycos, and AltaVista to determine how other people
have selected their audiences or set up appropriate web sites. BUT
DO NOT BUY A MAILING LIST AND/OR MAILING LIST SOFTWARE AND BROADCAST
YOUR MESSAGE WILLY-NILLY TO ALL.  This is not a good thing.  Target
your audience.

        Now that you know WHO should receive your message, find out
HOW they prefer to receive it.  Many many mailing lists and Netnews
groups hate loathe and abhor unsolicited ads of any kind.  Others
are receptive to ads for items which relate to the discussion at
hand.  Others may have a special methodology they wish advertisers
to follow, such as asking the moderator for permission, or the moderator
may prefer to cumulate all ads, and post a periodic digest of them.
The list or group may have a FAQ (a list of Frequently Asked Questions)
in which their policy is stated.  Be sure to read and comply.
In order to discover how your audience is going to respond, it is
a good practice to actually READ the postings of the group (or list)
for two full months BEFORE you post anything.  Two months seems like
an eternity in Internet time, but in that two month period, you will
learn what you need to know about the group to guarantee you don't
violate any of their rules.

4. Alternatives

        Your need is immediate.  You don't have two months you can wait.
What should you do?  You may begin to advertise your goods and services
immediately if you choose "passive" methods to do so rather than actively
sending messages or posts.

          Why not buy advertising space on an existing World Wide Web
site?  Many sites on the World Wide Web support themselves by
selling space for advertisers.  This method has several advantages:
it's probably cheaper than putting up your own site (Be aware:
Your Milage May Vary); You are using resources which already
exist; Depending on the site from which you advertise your ad may
be specifically targetted at the most receptive audience.
Your message could become part of a larger context supporting free
email accounts, free Internet access, or even broadcast news.

        Alternatively, you can put up your own web site.  There
are many companies who design and host web sites for businesses of every
size and type.  They will be able to get you through the decisions of
whether or not you resigter as your own domain or use the domain name
of your service provider/host.  They will be able to make recommendations
about the equipment needed, and give you 24x7 (that's 24 hours by 7 days  -
full coverage) support and do regular backups.

        Keep your site fresh by making sure your information
is up to date, and that any links you may have to other sites are correct.
(Of course, you should ask a site for permission before linking to it.)
Put your product information in easy-to-read and easy-to-find format.
The latest wizzy technology is never the lowest common denominator, so
decide where your site falls in this spectrum.

        Make sure you understand any legal ramifications of advertising
your products.  Certain jurisdictions frown on content which is
sexually oriented while others don't care.  Make sure you understand the
implications of World Wide advertising before starting your enterprise,
including trademarks and copyrights.

        No matter what method you choose to use on the Web, there
are a few more caveats about customer interactions: first, make sure your
contact information - name, phone, email address - are all clear
and available; second, be careful in creating forms which gather
information about your customers as there is concern in the U.S.
about gathering information from minors without parental consent AND
there is concern about grabbing use information via persistent
state information; third, if you DO gather information about people
and plan to use it for marketing in any way be VERY clear to specify
your plans as people sign up.

5. DOs and DON'Ts of emailed advertising

        You can't afford a Web site or even to advertise on other sites,
and mailing your information is about your only option.  Here are some
"do's and don'ts".  First, the don'ts.  DON'T forge your mail headers
to make it look as if your messages orginate from anywhere other than
where they really originate.  DON'T send out any sort of bogus message
to "cover" your intended activity.  In other words, don't pretend that
a personal message from you to someone else was sent to a mailing list
by mistake so that you can use the body of that message to advertise.

"Dear Tony - had a great time a lunch yesterday.  Per your request,
here's the information on the latest widget I promised - blah blah blah."

DON'T use aggravating headers such as "Our research shows you're
interested in our product."  Most of your recipients know this
is usually a fraudulent claim.  DON'T create mailing lists from third
party sources.  Many people create mailing lists from
addresses which they have gathered in mildly to extremely unethical
ways.  Many of these list-makers rely on grabbing volumes of addresses
without checking their legitimacy.  In other words, they send out
software robots to grab addresses they find in News or Mailing List
archives which may be many years old!  People change jobs, change ISPs,
change everything about themselves over time and trusting a third
party for a mailing list is just not wise.  That third party may
even have created a mailing list from email eddresses of people who
have asked to be REMOVED from their mailing lists.  They then sell
these lists to unsuspecting merchants who think they're getting a
list of people who will welcome the unsolicited information.

        Enough negativity!  DO create a lively signature which tells the
minimum about your product/service.  But keep it to 4 lines total.
DO participate in mailing lists and newsgroups which discuss topics
related to your product/service.  You will find folks of a similar
interest there and many potential customers.  So long as you aren't
obnoxious in your interactions with these groups you will find
your participation quite rewarding.  DO ask people if they want to be
part of any mailing list you create.  Be clear about your intentions
of how you plan to use the list and any other information you collect.
DO tell people how you gathered your list data.  If they've signed
up from a web page, make sure they know they will be getting mail.
Many web pages have getting mail selected as default.  Our
recommendation should be that the default should be that they
do NOT wish to receive mailings - even if they find your site
of interest.  DO keep your list to yourself.  Selling it would
not be ethical.  DO let people know how to get off your list.  Make
this as easy as possible,  DO let people know what you plan to
do with any data you collect.  Make sure that what you plan to do
is legal.

        You can check with the web site of the Better Business Bureau
which operates in the U.S. and Canada. (www.bbb.org)  They have
several programs and services which can help advertisers in those
countries, and have other resources which will benefit advertisers
of any nationality.

6. FROM THE REAL WORLD

        Nearly every Internet Service Provider today has an "Acceptable
Use Policy" (AUP) which describes how its customers are expected
to behave.  Violating the AUP is grounds for having your account
terminated.  If an ISP seems to have trouble enforcing its AUP or
if the AUP is weak enough to be unenforceable, other ISPs or
organizations have taken the initiative to block network addresses
from the offending provider.  If you

7. REFERENCES

[1] Steiner, P.  _New Yorker_.  July 5, 1993.  p.61.

8. APPENDIX

Most readers of this document probably already understand why
"Pyramid" or "Ponzi" schemes are fraudlent and, in most places,
criminal.  However, for those who do not, the following is provided:

A.1 The classic pyramid

In the classic pryamid scheme, there is a list of a few people, you
send money to one or all of them, and then you shift that person off
the list and add your name to the list and send it to N people. The
idea is that when your name gets to the special place on the list, you
will get lots of money.  The problem is that this only works for
everyone if there are an infinite number of people available.

As an example, lets look at a message with a list of four people where
you send five dollars to each, drop the top name, and add your name at
the bottom. There is probably also some stuff about sending "reports"
to people who send in money.  And assume the rules encourage you to
send out lots of copies until you get ten direct responses, 100 second
level responses, etc., and claim there is a guarantee that you will
make lots of money fast if you follow the procedure.

First, note that someone or group has to have started this. When they
did, they got to specify all four names so it was probably four people
working together to split any profits they might get from being the
top of the pyramid (or maybe they send out four versions of the
original letter with their name order rotated).

And while the letters that accompany these things usually have all
kinds of junk in them about following the instructions exactly, the
most rational thing for you to do if you decided to participate in
such a thing, would be to (1) send no money to anyone else, and (2)
find three other people and replace all the names on the list. But
lets assume that not just you but everyone who ever participates
decides to follow the "rules" and to avoid the start up transient,
lets assume that it starts with one name on the list and for the next
three layers of people, a name gets added and only after the list is
up to four does everyone start dropping the top name.

What does this look like after nine levels if everything works
perfectly? This table shows for 9 levels how many people have to
participate, what each person pays out, gets in, and nets.

.nf
Level         People       Out          In        Net
 1                 1         0     $55,550    $55,550
 2                10        $5     $55,550    $55,545
 3               100       $10     $55,550    $55,540
 4             1,000       $15     $55,550    $55,535
 5            10,000       $20     $55,550    $55,530
 6           100,000       $20      $5,550     $5,530
 7         1,000,000       $20        $550       $530
 8        10,000,000       $20         $50        $30
 9       100,000,000       $20           0        -20
.fi

So if this scheme ever got this far, which is pretty unlikely, over
10,000 people would have made the "guaranteed" over $50,000.  But the
problem is that to do that, a hundred million people (or over ten
thousand times are many) are out twenty dollars.  And it can't
continue because you are running out of people.  Level 10 would take a
billion people all of whom have $20 to mail off, which probably don't
exist.  Level 11 would take ten billion, more people than exist on the
earth.

Pyramid schemes are always like this.  A few people who start them may make
money but only because the vast majority lose money.  People who particpate
and expect to make any money, except possibly those who start it, are being
defrauded and for this reason such scheme are illegal in many countries.

A.2 What about Ponzi?

A Ponzi scheme is very similar to a pyramid except that all the money goes
through a single location.  They are named after a person in Boston who
claimed to have a way to earn huge returns on money by buying international
postal reply coupons and redeming them in postage for more than their cost.
Early "investors" in this scheme did get paid, but only with money that later
investors were putting in. He was really doing nothing with the money other
than living off it and paying some of the new "investors"  money out to old
"investors". Just like early pyramid participants make make money off of
later ones.

Just as pyramids always collapse, Ponzi schemes always collapse also, when
the new people and new money run out.  This can have serious consequences.
People died and much of the country's savings were squandered when huge Ponzi
schemed that seemed to be partly backed by the government in Albania
collapsed.

A.3 So all multi-levels are evil?

No, all multi-level systems are not the same.

If what you have moving around is just money and maybe "reports"  or the like
that are very cheap to produce, then almost certainly it is a criminal scam.
If there are substantial goods and/or services being sold through the system
at reasonable prices, it is more likely to be legitimate.

If it says you can make lots of money "fast"  or "easy"  or "guaranteed", be
very suspicious.  If it says you may be able to make lots of money by putting
in lots of hard work over many months but there is no guarantee, then it may
be OK.

If people are paid to recruit "members"  or can "buy"  a high "level", it is
almost certainly a criminal scam.  If people are paid only for the sale of
substantial goods and/or services, it is more likely to be legitimate.

It may also be worth your while to look at the history of the organization
and its founders/leaders. The longer it has been around, the more likely it
is to continue being around. If its founders or leader have a history of
fraud or crime, maybe you should think very carefully before being part of
it.

Sally Hambridge
Intel Corp
2200 Mission College Blvs
Santa Clara, CA 95052
[email-masked]

Donald E. Eastlake 3rd
318 Acton Street
Carlisle, MA 01741 USA
[email-masked]