[kstrauser]

Here’s the FTC’s definition in a presentation to the House (https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/public_sta...):

> Unsolicited commercial email -- "UCE," or "spam," in the online vernacular -- is any commercial electronic mail message sent, often in bulk, to a consumer without the consumer's prior request or consent.

It’s often in bulk, but needn’t be to meet the definition of Unsolicited Commercial Email, aka spam.

[reddalo]

>sent, often in bulk, to a consumer

That's the key. The FTC defines spam as something sent to a consumer; in this case, the receiver is not a consumer but a business.

[kstrauser]

I’ll lay it on the line. In the many years I ran mailservers for a living and for a hobby, I was elbows deep in fighting spam. One of the consistent patterns over the years was that spammers would go to elaborate lengths to explain why their spam wasn’t spam. If it’s unsolicited commercial email, it’s spam.

Again, there’s a wide spectrum from v14gr4 p1ll5 to a legitimate vendor in my job space reaching out to me. They’re not all alike. But if it’s commercial, and unsolicited… it’s still spam.

[reddalo]

I agree with you -- I don't like receiving cold emails on my work email address, and I treat such emails as spam. But I don't think it can be configured as spam from a law standpoint; but this is just my opinion, IANAL.

[kstrauser]

Here’s a 2024 link from the FTC: https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/can-spam-act...

> 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.

That doesn’t specifically mention spam, but it does indicate how strictly regulators define what they consider to be commercial email. And if it’s unsolicited commercial email, i.e. UCE… it’s spam.