14 DAY TRIAL // The Green Party in Ireland has upset several technology bloggers after sending them unsolicited e-mail messages. In a twist of irony, one of its own members, the Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan has recently passed the anti-spam legislation, under which the party might be fined.
The ecologist party sent out the unsolicited e-mail messages at the beginning of January to people in its mailing list. “Hello, and happy new year. Just letting you know about a competition that the Green Party is running that you may be interested in. Apologies if you have already received this, but we have updated some of our lists and I wanted to make sure you got it,” one of the e-mails reads.
Apparently, a lot people were not aware that they were subscribed to this mailing list, nor did they feel that they should. “I’ve never signed up for a newsletter from any of the Irish political parties and I have no connection to the Greens,” Michele Neylon, one of the enraged bloggers, commented for the Sunday Times. “I didn’t ask to be included in the mailing list, I didn’t ask for the e-mail to be sent to me, and it wasn’t even addressed to me personally,” another said.
According to the British publication, Michele Neylon was so upset over the incident that she filed a complaint with the Data Protection Commissioner, who in turn sent a letter to the party informing it of the allegations. Damian Connon, the Green Party's communication manager and the one responsible for sending out the e-mails, explained that the messages in question had been forwarded for journalistic purposes, but didn't realize that bloggers did not appreciate being sent information in this manner.
While Mr. Connon didn't think that the complaint filed with the Data Protection Commissioner was founded, he did point out that “We’ve learned our lesson.” Under the new anti-spam legislation, pushed through the Parliament by fellow party member Eamon Ryan two weeks before the incident, the sending of unsolicited e-mails or SMS messages is punishable with fines of up to 250,000 Euro (over $320,000). Businesses or organizations are forbidden from sending such marketing messages unless they have a “customer relationship” with the receivers.
“It’s worth remembering that this isn’t the kind of spam that many of us receive on a regular basis. […] But it is still a nuisance if you haven’t asked to be sent it. And the lack of information about how one should unsubscribe from future mailings only makes things worse,” Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for anti-virus vendor Sophos, notes. “All organisations, be they small shops, large multinationals, or political parties, need to keep their noses clean, and be sure not to do anything via the Internet which might damage their reputation,” the researcher advises.