Glossary - The Boulder Pledge

Roger Ebert gets "two thumbs up" from the Lumber Cartel for this distinct, well-written pledge:

"Under no circumstances will I ever purchase anything offered to me as the result of an unsolicited eMail message.  Nor will I forward chain letters, petitions, mass mailings, or virus warnings to large numbers of others.  This is my contribution to the survival of the online community." - Roger Ebert

The Boulder Pledge is a simple promise to never do business with spammers.  This pledge was created by Roger Ebert, a world-famous film critic, in 1996 when spam volume was still in its infancy, and continues to be an important pledge today.

***IMPORTANT*** April 2013 update:  We offer our condolences to Roger Ebert's family, friends, and fans for his passing today.  He will be missed, for his critical thinking was appreciated as well as his abilities as a great critic.

Rationale

The primary motivation of spammers is to profit in some way (usually financially), and they do so with a total disregard for your natural right to consent (they falsely claim that you "opted in" to their eMail list).  One of the easiest ways to thwart the efforts of spammers is to simply refuse to purchase anything they claim to be selling.

Spammers, such as those operating complicated "send me $10,000 for bank fees so I can get millions of dollars out of limbo and share a percentage with you" schemes, are simply con-artists who will usually just "take your money and run" (some will actually mail you something, but it will most likely be inferior, defective, or not at all what you were promised).  Unfortunately, due to a complete lack of proper business operating procedures, it can be nearly impossible to find the spammer in order to demand a refund (the spammer is usually long gone by this time and already working on their next scam).

Many spammers go to great lengths to make their junk eMail (and accompanying web sites) appear legitimate, but there's an easy way to keep things in perspective -- if you need, for example, prescription medication, would you buy it from someone you've never met before, and who has approached you in the middle of the night in a dark alley in a rough area of town?  The right answer is obviously "no" and the right place to get said prescription medicine is from a local merchant with a well-established business that complies with local laws and other relevant government regulations.

Avoid doing business with spammers at every possible turn not only to help protect the internet, but to also keep the stress and aggravation that spammers inflict upon others out of your daily life.

More information

• Classifying Spam as Theft-of-Service
• Pink contracts
• Roger Ebert's web site
• Roger Ebert - the critical thinker
• Spam (eMail)
• Spam-fighting techniques:  Tips for users
• The Rules of Spam

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