[jamesfinlayson]

I remember an old boss launching a product this way - he read the spam law and while I don't remember the specifics, sending an unsolicited email to people whose emails you obtained legitimately was okay if you weren't explicitly selling something (which I think is very open to interpretation).

[handfuloflight]

> was okay if you weren't explicitly selling something.

The CAN-SPAM Act does not forbid explicitly selling something. Rather it requires an opt-out mechanism and identifiers for who the sender is.

[jamesfinlayson]

Yeah okay - obviously varies by country although I think the opt-out mechanism is pretty universal.