Internet Direct Marketing Bureau Slams Spamming,Endorses 'Opt-in' Email; IDMB Calls On All...

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 12, 1998--Taking swift action against the continuation of spamming, the new Internet Direct Marketing Bureau (IDMB) has become the first association serving the direct marketing industry to endorse opt-in as the best practice for email marketing. The policy was unveiled during the inaugural IDMB meeting held at the E-Biz Solutions conference here.

The IDMB called on all email marketers and their industry groups to join it in endorsing opt-in, inviting them to be signatories to the group's best-practices guidelines, which will be posted in their entirety on the IDMB website (www.idmb.org) by month's end.

"Opt-in" allows users to visit a Web site and check a box to request information about a particular product or service of interest. "Opt-out" is often characterized by spam campaigns that blitz Internet users with electronic junk mail they don't want - or forms that require them to un-check a box that otherwise adds them to a particular list without their permission.

"Our members are Internet-based companies, so they understand that a viable business model for direct marketing in this medium must respect the privacy needs of consumers," said Paul Grand, CEO, Word of Net, and head of the IDMB's steering committee. "Further, if our industry fails to voluntarily adopt these practices, we risk over-regulation by government. The IDMB will be aggressive in reaching out to all marketing concerns and educating them on these issues."

"Spamming under an opt-out model is the mark of a company that doesn't care how many people it annoys, and doesn't have a brand it needs to protect," said Jason Catlett, president of Junkbusters Corp. and an advisor to the IDMB's privacy committee. "We're delighted to see responsible marketers coming forward and saying 'we never want to treat our customers like that.' It's a great move for businesses, for consumers, and for e-commerce globally. One hundred percent opt-in is the only ecologically sustainable policy for the Internet."

Besides Word of Net and Junkbusters, other charter members of the IDMB include: InterActive Agency, Webstakes, marketreach, WebPromote, Think New Ideas, Pixelpark, Netcreations, Engage Technologies, Flycast Communications, Dave's World, DoubleClick Network, Hall Dickler, IDEA Inc., Interactive Marketing Inc. and Revnet.