All rather strange, I thought this was a communication channel for people interested in birds and possibly even bird related products or opportunities to contribute. Odd to have a detailed discussion about legislation and litigation. Why would anyone bother?
I receive about 5 to 10 scam / spam emails every day. Nothing to do with Birding-Aus. These are annoying but just part of having internet. I delete them off the server before they reach my computer. So what? I survive.
I think we can consider the occasional item about birding products. It would really REALLY annoy me if I found out after the event that I was deprived of the knowledge or an opportunity to participate in this venture (if indeed I wanted to) because of an overzealous interpretation of “the Spam Act 2003”. If that was to happen that really would be a reason to unsubscribe from birding-aus.
As for the last suggestion by Paul, that is just crazy. That would mean in effect that all of us would not be permitted to send unsolicited messages individually (off line) to any members of the list on any item that we thought would be of interest or relevance to just that person or a small number of people. I for one often send a message to just one or a few people on items that appeared (for a whole range of possible reasons) suitable to just one or a few people. I do that as a courtesy to not involve everyone. Paul’s suggestion would mean that in every case where we obtain an email address from birding-aus, we would need to send every such message to the list and thus to everyone (in order to not bypass the birding-aus moderation system), even when the messages are of no relevance to the great majority of people on the list.
Perfect example: a few days ago a regular contributor accidentally typed “west” instead of “east” in referring to a location of an observation. Following Paul’s idea, I would not have been permitted to privately send my unsolicited email to this person to ask or clarify about what turned out to be just a trivial wording error. This because I obtained the email address via birding-aus. I would need to instead send my unsolicited email to the list, which would be a total over reaction and an annoyance and waste of time for everyone else. I was told that no one else had commented on the little error.
Philip
I agree completely with Paul, Arwen and Eric.
Unethical behaviour in a good cause remains unethical
Susan Knowles sknowles46@aapt.net.au
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Absolutely NO CONNECTION between birding-aus and Balanagara. They don’t have access to subscribers’ email addresses and could only gather them manually from the archives.
Can’t speak for Birds Australia.
Regards
Russell
Russell Woodford Birding-aus List Owner
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For those of you still awake.
Arwen makes good points. Being an American, I also belong to a similar group called Birdchat. Here, with the prior permission of the listowners, it is usually permitted to inform members of the existence of a project and direct them to a website for further information. That seems by far the preferable solution, rather than hijacking a mailing list for uninvited commercial requests.
That said, I am still considering subscribing to the film, but I am not sure that my good friends at Balangara really want a $33 contribution if it means shipping the DVD to me here in the states.
Eric Jeffrey Falls Church, VA USA
Hi All,
I haven’t had time to read all the responses on this topic, I’ve been wading through all my spam and unsubscribing left right and center
But seriously:
1) this project sounds fantastic for many reasons and I wish them the best of luck! I really think they deserve our support.
However: 2) But rather than going to bed which I should have done hours ago, I’m going to dip my toes into the debate and put in my two bobs’ worth: I totally disagree with the way this film has been marketed (indirectly via Birdingaus), and I hope this sort of thing won’t be repeated by other companies, and fully support any measures to avoid this happening through B-aus in the future; it surprised me that I was getting such chummy sounding emails from complete strangers and it really irks me to be told “You are receiving this email because you are a friend and associate of Balangara Films”. That sort of falsehood really turns me off. I’ve never met them and my only association with them is that they now have my email address without my permission. When I get a chance to look at it properly I’ll decide whether to unsubscribe or not.
3) I would have been very happy to find out about this over the list (via the moderators/list owner) and to then have been given a chance to find out more by subscribing to a list or going to a website. I would hope most people on this list would be interested in the film itself. And let’s face it, as has been said, other advertising does occur on this list in one way or another – but it’s not like advertising the film “Rio” to gain profits. Correct me if I’m wrong, but there are probably quite a few people who subscribe to this list who profit financially from having their names known (guides, guest houses…) – I don’t have a problem with that sort of indirect advertising, in fact I’m grateful for it, but it’s a blurry line.
Regards,
Arwen
………………………………….. Arwen Blackwood Ximenes arwenbx@hotmail.com
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Paul and all on BA
Thanks Paul for the helpful insight. Had not intended to cause such a fuss and certainly had not intended to maligne Balangra Films. So, let’s just let it rest now and hope Balangra Films goes about generating in a more appropriate manner some income for what now appears a good cause.
Greg Little