Privacy advocates to profit from spam plan

NewsFactor Network writes: “Two industry groups have announced a plan that ostensibly would help consumers by separating legitimate e-mail from the junk variety. But some analysts speculated that the primary beneficiary of the plan would be one of the groups itself, thanks to the fees it would earn for certifying “legitimate commercial e-mail.” Nonprofit privacy group Truste is instituting a system that stamps commercial e-mail with a “digital postmark,” which assures the receiver that the sender complies with the group’s standards. And the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) said that it will introduce guidelines making it compulsory for its members to avoid sending e-mail to addresses on the DMA’s “do not contact list.” Until now, compliance has been voluntary. The DMA keeps a similar list for telemarketers.”