DM News: DMA: Do-Not-E-Mail Registry Would Cost Industry $5.8B

Peter Johnson, the Direct Mail Association's (DMA's) top economist, said that the proposed Do-Not-Email Registry could cost the direct marketing industry $5.8 billion. The study projected that the list would block about 21.3 billion non-spam messages, although the study defined spam not as unwanted email, but rather as email sent without fraud in the content or via a fraudulent means.

Most Internet users, and many email marketers, define spam as unrequested commercial email, and would happily see the brunt of those 21.3 billion emails quashed. The DMA's weasely definition runs the risk of making it appear out-of-step with spam regulation requirements, as it did in its take-no-prisoners campaign against a national Do-Not-Call Registry, an effort that failed in total.