TeamsUnlimited
ZERO Tolerance Spam Policy!
What Is It? ...and How To Avoid It?...
Please read this entire page to protect yourself!
What about the Tell-A-Friend Form on the Greeting Cards page? Are we
liable for SPAM?
Please read the entire page!
If You Received a TeamsUnlimited SPAM:
CLICK HERE TO REPORT IT!
GUIDELINES:
TeamsUnlimited,
strictly prohibits its Web Site owners from using spam and other forms
of Internet abuse to seek referrals. Spam is defined as including, but
not limited to, the following:
- Electronic
mail messages addressed to a recipient with whom the initiator does
not have an existing business or personal relationship or is not sent
at the request of, or with the express consent of, the recipient;
- Messages
posted to Usenet and message boards that are off-topic (unrelated to
the topic of discussion), cross-posted to unrelated newsgroups, or posted
in excessive volume;
- Solicitations
posted to chat rooms, or to groups or individuals via Internet Relay
Chat or "Instant Messaging" system (such as ICQ);
- Certain
off-line activities that, while not considered spam, are similar in
nature, including distributing flyers or leaflets on private property
or where prohibited by applicable rules, regulations, or laws
- Sending
emails posting your HTTP://AFFILIATE ID.TeamsUnlimited.COM ADDRESS
and/or information regarding TeamsUnlimited or the TeamsUnlimited
SYSTEM to people you do not know UNLESS they PERSONALLY REQUESTED INFORMATION
FROM YOU!
We recommend
that you KEEP ALL:
- EMAIL
ADDRESSES,
- SIGN UP
REQUESTS
And
- CONTACT
FORMS submissions that "ask" for more information, from you.
This way you have proof in case down the road anyone disputes your emailed
reports and other items. SAVE them on a separate floppy disk or re-writeable
CD - this way they do not load up on your memory on your hard drive
AND you can keep your business organized.
TeamsUnlimited
SOLE DISCRETION:
TeamsUnlimited,
may undertake, at its sole discretion and with or without prior notice,
the following enforcement actions:
Account Termination:
Upon the receipt of a credible complaint, the Web Host will immediately
terminate the Web site of the individual implicated in the abuse, without
warning. Termination results in the immediate closure of the site, the
loss of all referrals, and a prohibition against any future Web site.
Account Suspension:
Upon the receipt of a credible complaint, the Web Host may immediately
suspend the Web site of the individual implicated in the abuse. After
a thorough investigation, if the spamming incident is verified, but does
not rise to the level of a terminable offense, the Web Host may (but is
not obligated to) lift the suspension.
Fines:
If the Server charges TeamsUnlimited a fine, the originating Web site
owner/affiliate is liable to pay the fine before his/her site is reactivated
- minimum fine of $500 per complaint...
WHY
IS SPAM BAD?:
Spam is bad
for a multitude of reasons. Unlike the "junk mail" you receive
in your "snail" mailbox, electronic junk mail costs the recipients
more time and money than it costs the sender. For example, AOL has said
that they were receiving 1.8 million spams from Cyber Promotions per day
until they got a court injunction to stop it. Many major service providers
estimate that upwards of 30% of their daily email traffic is spam, costing
them upwards of $1 million per month in hardware, bandwidth, and administrative
costs -- equaling nearly $2 per month per user. By contrast, the spammer
can use a simple dial-up account with an Internet service provider and
send out more than a half-million emails per day for around $20/month.
Spam is also
an unequaled time-waster. It takes time to download, sort through, and
identify junk mail, and then it takes time to discard it. Assuming that
it takes the typical user only 10 seconds to download, identify, and discard
a message, that equates to about 5,000 hours of connect time per day spent
for an ISP the size of AOL.
No other
kind of advertising costs the advertiser so little and the recipient so
much. The closest analogy would be auto-dialing junk phone calls to cellular
users or receiving a bill from your postman for "postage due"
on that month's junk mail; you can imagine how favorably that might be
received.
Anti-spamming
legislation has already taken affect in more than a dozen states in the
U.S., and has been banned in several countries in Europe.
If you
have any questions, feel free to contact us BEFORE
you send out emails:
CLICK HERE TO ASK US!
ENCOURAGING
PROPER NETIQUETTE:
At TeamsUnlimited,
we understand that our members are interested in responsibly promoting
their TeamsUnlimited Web Site. While we are quite vigorous in enforcing
our anti-spam policy, we understand that many members are not well-versed
in Internet "Netiquette" and the traditions, protocols, and
mores of Internet usage. To encourage our site owners and all Internet
users to learn more about Internet Netiquette, below is information to
assist you with appropriate methods of promotion and how to avoid running
afoul of Internet norms.
DOs
and DON'Ts of Promoting Your Site
DO
mention your Web site to friends and family in person, following up
with an email message later that day.
DON'T
gather up random email addresses and send unsolicited messages to individuals
with whom you have no ongoing relationship, otherwise you are setting
yourself up for SPAM COMPLAINTS which will shut your site down as well
as jeopardize the ENTIRE TeamsUnlimited WEB SYSTEM!
DO
include a brief mention of your Web site in an email that you were already
intending to send to your friends, family members, immediate coworkers
or classmates with whom you regularly communicate by email.
DON'T
send referral solicitations to friends whose email addresses you've
managed to dig up but with whom you haven't spoken in years.
DO
use mailing lists or mailing services that are verified "opt-in."
("Opt-in" means that the people on the list have *specifically*
requested to be on the list and are willing to receive messages of the
type you are sending.)
DON'T
use mailing lists or mailing services that claim to be "opt-in"
but cannot prove it. (They must be able to demonstrate that the only
way people have gotten on the list is through an affirmative act on
their part.)
DO
use a signature when sending messages to those you know would not mind.
DON'T
add a signature when posting in ongoing discussions in Usenet newsgroups
until you have read if it is within their guidelines.
DO
join and check out Usenet newsgroups or and read their rules.
DON'T
post a referral solicitation to Usenet newsgroups, message boards, or
Web-based discussion sites, EXCEPT those specifically designated in
their charter or by their operators for postings of a purely commercial
nature. (Even for locations where commercial messages are *explicitly*
authorized, postings may still be a violation if they are excessively
cross-posted or posted more frequently than necessary.)
DO
mention your Web site in holiday cards, letters, and on appropriate
correspondence.
DON'T
print out flyers and stick them on car windshields or distribute them
where doing so constitutes trespassing or otherwise violates applicable
rules, regulations, or laws.
DO
think of new and creative ways to gain new referrals.
DON'T
act on those ideas without first considering whether they might be inappropriate
or prohibited.
(When in doubt, ASK FIRST!)
CLICK
HERE TO ASK US!
REPORT
SPAM:
If you have
received a SPAM EMAIL, regarding the TeamsUnlimited Web Sites, please
inform us! This is in violation of our TeamsUnlimited.com Anti-Spam Policy
and we will not tolerate it.
Please forward
all relevant evidence to: spamabuse@teamsunlimited.com
and place the words "spamabuse" in the subject line.
We will respond
immediately!
Thank you,
TeamsUnlimited.com
Web Design and Hosting Teams
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