Unspam Fires Another Shot in Utah PR Battle
Unspam, the company that runs so-called child protection e-mail registries for Michigan and Utah, last week issued another “report” through a public relations firm claiming pornographers are increasingly targeting children with their e-mail marketing.
The report is part of a PR campaign Unspam began in November aiming to stack public opinion against a pornography group suing Utah to have its registry overturned.
“It’s big business and it’s targeting our nation’s kids like never before,” led a Dec. 28 press release dressed up to look like a news story by WDC Media, a Christian PR firm that lists Unspam as a client.
“‘Online pornography is a billion-dollar per year industry,’ said Matthew Prince, CEO of Unspam,” the report continued. “‘And e-mail is becoming the delivery system of choice for porn purveyors.’”
“Prince was responding to a recent study forecasting $12.6 billion in revenue for the adult entertainment industry this year,” WDC’s press release said “‘One of the porn industry’s major marketing tools for making that enormous profit is e-mail,’ noted Prince. ‘And many of the e-mails they send are hitting the in-boxes of children and teens.’”
Online pornography trade group the Free Speech Coalition sued the state of Utah in November trying to get the state’s do-not-e-mail registry declared in violation of the federal Can-Spam Act and/or an unconstitutional restriction on interstate commerce.
Most marketers who use e-mail are quietly—if somewhat uncomfortably—hoping the coalition wins its suit against Utah. The E-mail Sender and Provider Coalition has said it plans to file an amicus brief in support.
WDC’s report is part of an ongoing effort by Unspam to position the suit as “an attempt by pornographers to continue to send spam to children,” as opposed to a legal battle to establish boundaries for e-mail marketers and law enforcement.
Utah’s registry and a similar one in Michigan allow parents to register children’s e-mail addresses as off limits to sellers of products and services inappropriate for minors. Marketers who want to include such material in e-mail are supposed to scrub their lists against the state registries once a month.
