XMission initiates legal fight against spammers

XMission encourages all email customers to read this post about our fight against SPAM, our updated Terms of Service, and how it impacts you.

During our 21 years in business we have observed and participated in what has undoubtedly been the biggest technology advancement in the history of mankind. We are proud to be part of this history and equally proud to announce new efforts to keep our customer inboxes junk free.

The Good Ole Days

Spammers did not exist when XMission started in 1993. Now, unsolicited email is the primary abuse of the Internet. The relentless onslaught of SPAM frustrates those who receive it and is a financial burden for those who battle it. Many of XMission’s email resources are allocated to the prevention and reduction of unsolicited email.

Enough is Enough

After two decades of dealing with the scourge of unsolicited email we have determined it is time to take an active stance by leveraging the legal system to enforce our rights as provided by the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.

XMission recently secured legal counsel and will be pursuing offenders in an effort to curb the amount of junk mail that impacts our network. Based on the experience of others, we hope to see a substantial reduction in the amount of unfilterable SPAM that hits our network and customer inboxes.

The desired outcome of this legal strategy is three fold:

1) Reduce unsolicited email to customer inboxes

2) Create a financial impact on spammers, thus reducing the amount of unsolicited email on the greater Internet

3) Opportunity to impact case law and help establish further protections for everyone

All current email customers are included in this effort by default. No action is necessary to participate. You will incur no costs as a result of these efforts.

It’s the Law

The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (“CAN-SPAM”) of 2003, prohibits sending unauthorized email with header information that is materially false or materially misleading, and prohibits the use of deceptive subject headings. These types of email messages are typically difficult to filter and block from customer inboxes. Additionally, CAN-SPAM requires the inclusion of certain content in commercial emails. CAN-SPAM also regulates sexually explicit email messages. The CAN-SPAM Act, as well as other similar state laws, applies primarily to commercial emails or email commonly referred to as SPAM.

Typical SPAM Cycle

Who is Liable?

Where the necessary prerequisite elements are satisfied, the law extends liability to both “Senders” and “Initiators” of SPAM. A “Sender” is usually the company who causes the email to be transmitted, and whose product, service, or website is advertised or promoted by the email. In essence, a “Sender” is the company or manufacturer who is the face of the product being advertised. An “Initiator” is usually the party who actually transmits the message, or, in some cases, hires someone else to do so.

Who has Claims?

Federal law allows private parties that qualify as “Internet Access Services” to bring claims for SPAM. This means that the intended recipient does not normally have legal recourse under Federal Law. Fortunately, established Internet Service Providers, like XMission, can exercise legal rights to protect their customers by asserting claims under CAN-SPAM.

Privacy Matters

Because XMission is extremely committed to protecting customer privacy, those customers who prefer not to have XMission tackle unsolicited email may opt-out specific @xmission.com email addresses and/or email domains. Email domains also include customers on our domain-based Zimbra email services as well as those purchasing our SpamCatcher SMTP feed and mail spooling service.

XMission monitors the process of receiving and capturing data from the unsolicited email that hits our network. We maintain the storage of this information in our secure facility. We worked closely with our legal and technical teams to obfuscate recipient customer data in the offending email, when possible. We take all appropriate steps to protect customer privacy in each step of this process.

To opt-out, email fightspam@xmission.com and identify your email address(es).

Terms of Service updates

It is important to note that updates have been implemented to our legal disclaimer page. We encourage all customers to review it from time to time: https://xmission.com/legal

Below, we have italicized the specific changes to our policies.

Policy Tab: https://xmission.com/legal

a) Law Enforcement Guidelines

..snip..

XMission will hold data for up to six months upon receipt of a specific retention request. If a subsequent warrant for the data is not served in that time, the data will be discarded. XMission may hold raw data for unsolicited/unlawful commercial emails, commonly referred to as SPAM, for up to three years to assist with its SPAM mitigation effort for the benefit of XMission’s customers.

XMission makes an exception for sharing customer contact information when processing a credit card. Otherwise, no customer data or demographic information is sold or shared without a warrant or as required by a Court.

b) Necessary Submission of Information

Personally identifiable consumer information is shared with Authorize.Net, the credit card processing company we use, to the extent it is necessary for them to provide payment processing services. In limited circumstances, your email address may be identified in connection with its receipt of SPAM email in an effort to mitigate the ongoing receipt of SPAM. The parties to whom your email address may be identified are, in most cases, already in possession of the email address and the identification thereof is required in order to have the email address removed from a SPAM list or as part of judicial proceedings.

Terms tab: https://xmission.com/legal_terms XMission Terms of Service

SPAM Mitigation

24. SPAM Mitigation. The receipt of unsolicited or unlawful commercial electronic mail messages, otherwise known as SPAM (“SPAM”), adversely affects your use and enjoyment of email services, as well as XMission’s business and its ability to provide email services to you. Accordingly, you agree that XMission may take action on your behalf to mitigate SPAM and you grant to XMission the authority and right to opt-out and/or unsubscribe from receiving any and all SPAM emails, sent by any party to your email address(es). You also grant and assign to XMission the authority and right to take any other action, including legal action, to stop the mailing and/or receipt of SPAM emails to your email address(es), and seek all available legal remedies against responsible parties. XMission’s SPAM mitigation effort may require the preservation and disclosure of the actual SPAM emails directed to your email address, or if you are in California, your IP address. In most cases, the parties to whom the disclosure is made are already in possession of this information which they used to send you the SPAM (i.e., SPAM emailers, their attorneys, etc.), but disclosure may be made to attorneys, law enforcement, the court and court personnel. XMission will make every reasonable effort to obfuscate any personal identifying information included in the SPAM emails or ensure that any information is protected by a protective order. If you do not wish to have your email address(es) included in the SPAM mitigation effort, it is your responsibility to contact XMission at fightspam@xmission.com and opt-out. You may request information from XMission regarding any action taken by XMission described above, which information will not be unreasonably withheld.

XMission asks that any email customers located in California notify us via email as we have additional grounds for legal action in that state.

If you have questions about how this will work please email support@xmission.com.

We encourage supporters of our efforts to share this post with friends, co-workers, and social networks by clicking on the social media icons below.

Thank you for choosing XMission. We appreciate your trust.

John Webster, VP of Business Development and Zimbra Email Product Manager, has worked at XMission for over 19 years doing his favorite thing: helping companies communicate with customers through technology to grow their business. When he’s not uncovering Zimbra’s secrets you might find him in our beautiful Utah mountains. Connect with him on LinkedIn today!

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