This is not a typical "Dear Friends" letter, in the sense of being addressed to subscribers to the "Dear Friends" distribution list. Rather, it is the current evolution of a letter I now send routinely to sources and recipients of a certain type of distributed e-mail – individuals I also consider to be my "friends," whether I have ever before exchanged information with them, or not.
04/11/2007 21:39
Dear [So and So],
Thank you, [So and So], for the information about [whatever it was]; however, this is not in response to that information as such. Rather, it is a slightly modified copy of a letter I have been sending to all senders and recipients of such distributed messages, in the hope of addressing quite a different problem.
In the best spirit of friendship, camaraderie, and good will to all, I must admit that I groan inwardly whenever I receive one of these widely distributed messages from anyone, about anything, forwarded to me, and to a long list of other recipients. I hope I will not offend you if I take the time to explain to you, as gently as I am able, why I say this. I am "BCC'ing" this response to everyone on the distribution list included with your message, in hopes it may inform, and not offend, others who also may not be aware of the disproportionate and lasting impact of messages of this kind.
Please, please do not be offended, anyone receiving this. There are many kinds of people using computers to communicate, and there is much that not everyone fully understands about this amazing technology, which is in fact vastly more complex than many people imagine - or even, possibly, than most of us can imagine! Perhaps what follows may help.
There is one particular technical fact about all digital messages, which I think it would be good if it were more widely understood and appreciated; and that is that, unless it is strongly encrypted, there is no such thing as a "private" e-mail message. Every e-mail correspondence of any kind passes through - and copies are retained within - numerous computers and servers, between point of origin and point of destination, and are as accessible for any purpose to unknown others as is a postcard sent through the regular "snail-mail." Further, copies of such e-mails, particularly bearing lists of functional e-mail addresses, are both easily obtained, and highly prized by spammers who are constantly seeking to enlarge their distribution lists for the proliferation of unsolicited e-mail (a/k/a "spam").
Now e-mail spam enjoys one virtue not shared by unsolicited physical mail, such as catalogs and circulars which arrive daily in physical mailboxes, inasmuch as spam consists entirely of bits and bytes, which can be easily, quickly, and permanently deleted, and disappears without a trace; while physical catalogs and such must be physically disposed of, and ultimately end up in landfills, and contribute monumentally to the incremental trashing of our entire planet. On the other hand, spam is so effortlessly produced and proliferated that it significantly clutters up channels of telecommunication, and accumulates in heaps and drifts, unless it is regularly shoveled aside and obliterated. Although this can be done relatively quickly and easily, it does take time and attention, and this adds up.
I myself receive every day probably on the order of at least 100 to 200 spam messages, about everything from "hot stock tips" to "penis enlargement," to God knows what else, for every message I actually read from known sources. These useless spam messages take time to download, and additional time to identify with care and delete, so as not to include among them the one or two messages I actually want to read. This culling process must be performed with care and attention several times each day; for every time I download e-mail, another deluge of spam cascades into my In Box, along with possibly zero to one message of actual interest to me. As easy as it is to deal with spam, it is not effortless, and it is not welcome!
Therefore, I must confess I groan in spirit whenever I receive a well-intentioned e-mail message like yours, dear [So and So], clearly addressed and cc'd to a long list of recipients among which my e-mail address also appears; because I know that address list is certain to be harvested by numerous industrious spammers who never sleep, and will be deluging me almost immediately with yet more heaps and drifts of digital trash about "Viagra," "penis enlargement pills," why I should "beware of fake pills," and on and on and on, ad infinitum, ad nauseam.
Well, there is a "solution" to all this - of sorts. It consists of the simple fact that all e-mail clients are provided with not only the "To:" and "Cc:" address fields, but also the "Bcc:" field, which stands for "Blind carbon copy," and renders recipient lists placed in the "Bcc:" field not accessible to recipients or unintended readers of the message. That is, a recipient of such a message sees it addressed only to himself or herself, or to something like "Undisclosed Recipients," and has no way of knowing to whom else it may also be addressed, if the message's source had exercised the courtesy of placing those additional recipients in the "Bcc:" field, instead of the "To:" or "Cc:" fields. Therefore copies of such a message, retained in servers along the way, also do not contain long e-mail lists for spammers to harvest and further clutter up the Net. Simple.
If this bit of information were more widely understood, perhaps more well-intentioned people would take pains to avoid the significant disservice to all their recipients of proliferating their e-mail addresses among spammers, and adding to the already overwhelming deluge of spam each of us receives in heaps every day.
If you wish, you are welcome to distribute this message widely; but PLEASE, if you do, PLEASE insert your distribution list into the "Bcc:" field, instead of the "To:" or "Cc:" fields! And PLEASE, exclude me from all future such distributions, unless my e-mail address is inserted into the "Bcc:" field, not the "To:" or "Cc:" fields! Thank you for your time and attention.
Love, Peace, Joy, Now,
Harmon
HARMONHOUSEtm Designs
http://harmonhouse.net
