[Alupis]

If you need to verify an email address, it's very likely you did not obtain it via an opt-in... a la Spammers... or people purchasing bulk mailing lists. Both are illegal.

It's difficult to imagine how anyone using this service is not violating the CAN-SPAM Act[1].

    Despite its name, the CAN-SPAM Act doesn’t apply just to bulk email. 
    It covers all commercial messages, which the law defines as “any electronic 
    mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement 
    or promotion of a commercial product or service,” including email that 
    promotes content on commercial websites. The law makes no exception for 
    business-to-business email. That means all email – for example, a message 
    to former customers announcing a new product line – must comply with the law.

In short, any unsolicited email sent with the intention to promote commercial interests is a violation of CAN-SPAM, and can carry heft fines.

Effectively, this service is a facilitating violation of the law.

Penalties can be up to $16,000 USD per unsolicited email sent.

Just ask Papa John's how much unsolicited messages can cost you[2].

[1] https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can...

[2] https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news...

[the_watcher]

Papa John's didn't violate CAN-SPAM. And there has never been a case (that I've seen, and I follow this stuff pretty closely because I really dislike receiving newsletters, personally) prosecuting anyone for sending a cold sales email.

[Alupis]

> Papa John's didn't violate CAN-SPAM

Ya, they sent text messages, so they skirted that issue, but the CAN-SPAM Act fines are very real - and the point I was making is that Papa Johns essentially had to pay out through the nose for sending unsolicited messages.

> And there has never been a case (that I've seen, and I follow this stuff pretty closely because I really dislike receiving newsletters, personally) prosecuting anyone for sending a cold sales email.

People get fined all the time. Just because the likelihood of not being fined is pretty good, doesn't mean they aren't violating CAN-SPAM. Most people just mark the email as spam and move on - people have to report it to the FCC for them to get fined.