Mass Mail Policy questions

I recently had a couple email boxes for a client become blocked due to exceeding the mass mail policy. It was suggested that I sign the mass mail policy form, but I want to be sure I fully understand the liability first.

The form says:

I am legally responsible for operating the JodoHost Service Account associated with the above Username. I have read and agreed to JodoHost's Terms Of Service present at the Internet URL - Jodohost.com :: Terms of Service and do not intend to carry out unsolicited bulk emailing or any other activity that doesn't conform to JodoHost's Terms Of Service

The TOS says:

Emailing abuse carries a fine of up to $100 USD per email message sent, depending on the severity of the violation. Email abuse is also grounds for immediate suspension of your Service Account and an appropriate legal action.

So here's what concerns me....

I have zero control over what a client of mine does. The way this reads to me is that if one of my clients is guilty of email abuse, that I (my company) will be the one fined and my service account account suspended - which would break my entire business. I can have my clients agree to a TOS that includes this same language, but I have zero control over them.

1. Would my account be suspended and would I be fined if one of my clients were guilty of email abuse? Or am I misunderstanding? The worst case scenario is a client gets a trojan that sends spam and yet my account is suspended - am I understanding correctly?

Another concern....

In the situation above, my client is a church that is not aware of any mass email being sent by them. They have no newsletters that they send out, and are simply boggled that over 100 emails could have gone out from their account in a single day. While it is certainly possible they have a trojan (and they are having their network scanned), it sure seems like the mass mailing that occurred was wholly unintentional.

To my knowledge there was no notification that this had occurred. The client went through several days of not knowing why they couldn't send email, and then I spent several hours trying to figure it out. When I first sent in a ticket about it, Jodo said everything was working fine and to please try again. When it still didn't work for us, Jodo then said it was blocked due to mass mail that had occurred a couple weeks ago.

My concern here is that if the mass mail policy is in place, and I choose not to sign the mass mail form because I simply cannot be liable for someone else's actions, then clients can have their email blocked for purely accidental or unintentional reasons - and not even be notified it has happened. Further, I learned that Jodo will only unblock an mail box once.

In desperation we simply deleted that mail box and the client is now trying to let people know of their new email address.

2. Is there any way Jodo could at least notify before blocking, or perhaps provide a warning? It is SO easy to naturally through the course of the day send over 100 perfectly legitimate emails and not even realize you've sent that many.

I'm looking for the best way to handle this issue where everybody is cared for - Jodo, my company, and my clients. I'm having a hard time figure out what that is, as right now it seems a no-win situation whether I sign the mass mail form or not.

Any clarification or help would be much appreciated!
Thanks!!
David
 
Well, the fine issue has only come into play when we knew 100% after warnings and all, that the user themselves was spamming and knew it well, as they were using proxies, etc to connect and e had a full paper trail.

Prevent spam, check your contact address, REPLY to our abuse notices, and you will be in good shape.
 
Thanks Stephen - that helps. But just to confirm...

1. If I sign the policy, and some client of mine is "unknowingly" guilty of sending spam (ie due to a trojan), then my account will NOT be negatively affected in any way, correct? Further, my account would not be negatively affected in any way unless it was proven that I was personally guilty of purposeful spamming, but not based on actions of my clients, correct? And, in any case, I would be notified and given opportunity to rectify whatever the problem may be prior to any suspension of my account, correct?

I guess that's several questions all in one, sorry. :)

2. For those accounts not covered by the mass mail policy - is it at all possible to warn them (or me so I can warn them) that they have breached the 100 email limit prior to blocking an email address? To my knowledge, neither I nor my client was notified that two of their addresses had breached the limit, and no warning was given. It appears a bit unfair to block an address without warning or notice, when the breach could easily be accidental.

Thoughts?
 
Sorry to be so pesky, but I'm trying to figure out what to do here and really need to know the answers to my questions.

Thanks!
 
Is there a better place to get answers to these questions? I assumed Email Support was the best place, but maybe there is something else I should be doing?
 
Hi Stephen...

I didn't hear back from you so I assumed the email address was [email protected] and sent an email last Friday. That email didn't bounce but I haven't heard a response yet either.

I must say I am a bit surprised it is so difficult and is taking so long to get answers to these questions.

Could somebody please tell me how to get the answers?
 
David,

Tanmaya or I would be the one to answer, we got the mail but we are working reverse shift with the moves and it is #1 priority, we will get an answer to you before long on this :)
 
Hi Stephen

Would it be possible to email me the answers as well. I have a customer that wants to do mass emailing and I am a bit concerned about it.

THanks

QuietCalm
 
Please send me a mail with your questions it is my name (spelt as here) at jodohost.com

:)
 
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