iMedia Connection: Do Not Email Will Backfire

I have yet to see someone on the email marketing side explain why the do-not-email list would fail, at least not without using flawed arguments. Michael Mayor's recent iMedia piece proves no exception.

First of all, Mayor makes a similar argument to DiGuido's argument on ClickZ the week before last in saying that DNC was a bad idea because it's going to kill an industry and put people out of work. That same argument would justify the illegal kiddie porn industry. So let's just throw that one out the window right now.

Secondly, Mayor hoists up a straw man by arguing against how he thinks the DNE is likely to be perceived instead of arguing against what it's proposed to be. He believes that people will perceive it as an automatic removal from all email lists. Meanwhile, the do-not-call list (DNC) had very specific caveats, which were discussed all over the industry and in the consumer world. I heard that DNC wouldn't free me from charity calls and calls from existing partners almost every day on the local news. It was covered well. Why can't the same thing happen with DNE?

The worst part of all this is that all somebody has to say is "It will affect legitimate email marketers more than it will affect spammer," and I'd be satisfied. Legit e-mail marketers have permanent addresses and don't use forgery tactics. Spammers do, and are much tougher to track down. So why don't they just say so?