Please reply to this email message before close of business on or we will be forced to pursue further action. We will also expect a full letter of explanation mailed or faxed to our offices.

Thank you for your cooperation.

And closing today's column, here are a few additional tips to help you avoid trouble with unsolicited email...

- If you have an opt-in list, keep EVERY opt-in request you ever receive. I keep opt-in requests dating back years. On several occasions I have been able to provide proof of signup to someone who forgot they joined and accused me of sending unsolicited email. These email "receipts" also come in handy with ISPs and web hosts.

- Keep your email addresses from being harvested at your website by using a tool that encodes your email addresses. It's a great way to cut down on spam and avoid situations like one I ran into! See following URL for a free encoding service: www.siteup.com/encoder.html

- At your site, state your policy on unsolicited email very clearly. It's also a good idea to post reports of any incidents at same area of your site. See http://www.bizweb2000.com/privacy.htm for an example of how you can set this up.

Well, this closes a rare, not-so-fun chapter in online marketing. Hopefully today's tip will help you avoid trouble or save you a bit of time if and when trouble does arrive.

Visit Jim at http://www.bizweb2000.com where he shares exactly how he makes his living from the Internet. And get Jim's free weekly email newsletter, BizWeb eGazette by sending mailto:optin@bizweb2000.com

(A) The name, physical address, electronic mail address, and telephone number of person who initiates transmission of message.

(B) The name, physical address, electronic mail address, and telephone number of person who created content of message, if different from information under subparagraph (A).

(C) A statement that further transmissions of unsolicited commercial electronic mail to recipient by person who initiates transmission of message may be stopped at no cost to recipient by sending a reply to originating electronic mail address with word `remove' in subject line. ------------------------

How many messages citing this "Law" as justification for sending you SPAM contain items in Para. (2)(A) & (B). I haven't seen any out of 1000's I received. In fact, in those that I try to send a message back to, reply address is usually invalid.

Plus, even though they furnish you with a means at end of message to "Remove" yourself from mailings, it is usually a false address or url when you actually try to remove yourself.

This type of mis-information spreads like wildfire once someone makes it up and pretty soon everybody takes it for truth. It is similar to all those emails, forwarded by thousands, proclaiming that Microsoft is going to pay you over $200 for each person you forward message to.

The use of this statement of "Law" in sending unsolicited email advertisements does not diminish fact that they are still SPAM no matter how a mailer tries to camouflage his or her efforts. It should also make you think twice, no matter how great offer looks, about integrity of individual and/or company sending it to you and whether you want to deal with them..

Joe Reinbold, Publisher of Home Income Quarterly E-dition, a free weekly online marketing newsletter. To subscribe just mailto:subscribe@homebizlink.com with "Subscribe" in the subject. Or visit The Entrepreneur's Home Business Link where you will find the solutions to your home business needs at: http://www.homebizlink.com