SPAM? TOS and/or CS Violation?

Hi everyone. I hope I'm posting this in the right place here ...

Is it a violation of TOS or CS to send out advertisements for your club or shop to people outside of your group?

For example; I visited a club, did not join their group, did not buy from their store, did not tip their staff ... I actually did not stay long at all, just an in-and-out kind of thing ... now I am getting their notecards and public chat ads that say I need to come to their place to remove myself to stop the ads.

Why should I have to return to the spam joint to remove myself from something I never requested in the first place? Why would I even remotely WANT to return to a place that does this? Who knows what else I'll end up getting stuck in? I have IM'd the senders with respectful requests for removal and they treat me poorly, with abusive vulgarity and laughter, rather than simply remove me.

I have been hearing more and more about this over the last few weeks from various people I have talked to that have said they filed complaints but are still receiving the ads. I have also filed 6 complaints (1 for each ad) with no results.

Any and all assistance on this topic is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

sounds like they added you to a mailing list.

If it is hippo you can block that from happening via the hippo website (also can see if they are using hippo)

as for against the TOS I would say yes, because it is harassment, I would AR them

If you mute the owner of the object that is sending the spam that might make the spam stop. Alternatively you can file an AR every single time you receive something from them.

-Atashi

Thank you Rhaorth and Atashi. Your input is greatly appreciated and noted. I will work with both of your suggestions to attempt to rectify this situation.

Both of you suggested AR, which I have been doing each time I receive their ads. Maybe LL takes a little longer than I expected to actually take care of a given situation. I'm sure they receive tons of complaints daily.

Thank you again.

the last one I had I ar'd then I sent the owner of the group a harsh message and he messaged me back and politely removed me. I told him I ar'd him too, I'm sorry but I want to be asked if I want to join a group, not just get randomly added because I happened to land somewhere. I really think Hippo tech should remove that ability. and I will be darned if I'm going to go register at a website just so I can block groups I didn't click to join.

it actually sounds like a subscribomatic. go back to the store and click the board and see if it asks you to unsubscribe.

Why isn't LL doing anything about this? I have filed report after report with absolutely no action taken against these spammers! I have muted them but still get their crappy little notecards. I am so sick of this nonsense with SL ... it's ruining this place.

I'm not going to return to Nightfire Hot Spot because I don't know what else I'll get myself into simply for showing up.

Simply showing up there get's you on a spam list and they flat refuse to remove you ... it's all a traffic scam anyways. Force people onto the list for showing up, and then require them to return to remove themselves ... what else are they pulling that forces you to return to do something you shouldn't have to do in the first place?

I have asked the owner Darkmoon Lilliehook to remove me but he says "muted" and doesn't remove me. WTH!!!!!!

LL PLEASE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!!!!!

I think there's a new bug that's keeping object muting from working properly. Someone in SLU was having problems receiving multiple offline IMs and/or inventory offers from some object and muting the owner has not yet fixed the problem. We even showed her how to determine the true owner from the emails you get when the offers go to email and it simply isn't working.

Hi Shadeau and welcome to the forums!

I completely agree with you, but...

If there is utilities out there that allows people to SPAM you some WILL use it and I don't think a couple of AR's will do the trick in the long run...

And tomorrow you (or I) will come to another place where they do the same thing because if its out there - well - its out there.
And people that uses SPAM aren't very smart (nor nice) so you shouldn't be surprised if they treat you badly when you complain.

I can understand that this is really annoying for you... But I would suggest that you do what they told you in the first place: Go there and unsubscribe!
Sounds to me that it will be a lot easier than receiving lots of AD's, getting pissed and AR'ing ppl each and every day.

If you really want to do something about these annoying things - file a complaint against those that provide the service...

Unsubscribe and have a silent, peaceful, merry Christmas! ( IMHO )

Multiple AR's from the same person on the same object isn't smart either imho, LL im sure receive tons of complaints daily as you say and adding to the mess with multiple AR's i would imagine won't get you to the top of the list. Also naming names in the forum is a sure way to get locked

On the 3 occasions i have had a need to AR something since being here, it has been sorted very rapidly. The other times communication with the person responsible has always paid off within a short time span.

Good luck

I have been having issue with this one designer last item I got from this person was a anonymous birthday gift, and while back before I bought something once from this person.
The designer has great stuff but I prefer to make my own clothes.
Since my birthday in July I keep getting things from this designer that I hadn't asked or sign up for.
Most recently was saying if I wanted to stop getting notecards I could unsubscribe to stop this but I never subscribed for announcements in first place.
This happen with this one other person and I muted them.
I am curious what would happens to notecards from people I mute do I still get them?

Just bite the bullet... same as in RL - YOU must remove yourself from mailing/calling/spam lists by making the call/sending the letter/accessing the site. Go 'unsubscribe' yourself, and while you are there... Add them to your "Picks" in a negative way, so anyone checking your profile will see your experience at this place. *winks* I have closed more than a few places that treated me badly by profiling their nastiness.

IMHO - people who spend their SL time deliberately hurting others need to find another playground.

Meanwhile... re-read the TOS/CS as it talks about spam... you will find this type is allowed as you only need to mute the person sending the spam, in order to stop the spam.

If the owner of the device spamming you told you 'muted', then that person has muted you, and does not care how you feel about the spam (just a more sophisticated way of griefing that is allowed by LL). Mute them back

Get used to it. That 'I don't care about anyone in SL but me' attitude is (in my experience) the prevailing attitude in SL... and includes Linden Lab Support.

These devices should not be allowed to silently grab your UUID. I am getting all sorts of items and messages because I went exploring. LL should realy regulatethis. It is getting out of hand. Soon spammers wil just go to that public list of UUIDs and add thousands of people and spam the hell out of them.

It is very annoying to have to Go 'unsubscribe' yourself. I ended up muting a very well known male fashion designer because he subscribed me for service I never asked for.
He won't be getting any repeat business from me either but I hadn't thought of getting his notecards still. Would it be rude to send him multiple notecards back telling he has to unsubscribe to some unknown place and stop what he is doing to go unsubscribe?

COOL!!!!
Thanks for the idea.
You know, it takes time and effort for me to unsubscribe someone from my list. I think a 25L$ handeling fee should be enough to cover it.

Lias, they already do. Otherwise, I have no idea how I am getting invites to groups/clubs/others that I have never even heard of, let alone visited.

Do what I do.. AR 'em. If enough people AR spammers, then maybe, just maybe LL will take it up and do something about it. Then I put them on mute. I don't bother with the nasty notecards. I decline everything that is sent to me that I didn't research or ask for. Banning also seems to work just fine, if they happen to TP in and drop the crap on me.

The last time this happened to me- I got on someone's spam list through an object that I supposed grabbed my UUID- I sent a polite IM to the owner of the object to remove me from the list, and she apologized and removed me.

I shouldn't have to waste my time to ask spammers to remove me from lists on which I didn't want to be in the first place. However, asking to be removed was still simpler and faster than filing an AR or something.

(And, I don't remember, but I thought it was a requirement that one had to try to work things out with the other resident first before filing an AR anyway.)

I am, however, quite suprised, not to mention relieved, that this sort of spam doesn't happen more often. It does seem like a huge problem waiting to happen, if Linden Lab doesn't do something proactive to prevent it.

You know, with all the will in the world, one shouldn't have to ask to be removed from a list they never signed up for. They shouldn't have been added in the first place! And if one does ask to be removed from a list they never signed up for why does that request have to be polite. They're spammers!

I have noticed a big increase in this type of spam and I'm getting spammed several times a week. The very act of visiting a store or a region is enough to get added to a spam list. LL needs to do something about this spam before it gets really out of hand. It is very annoying to get your public chat space filled up with several spam messages and it will likely drive people away from SL if something is not done about it and fast!

Kill the spammers!

Actually, you can be AR'd for putting in a negative Picks on a person or place.

this is not RL this is the net and i shouldn't have to remove myself at All..they will just get an AR with each offense until it stops

where does it say these types of devices are allowed in the TOS/CS??
because you have to mute the item it is allowed?? i could battle that with harrassment..because it's not about repeat offenses but offenses?
because you can mute it?
you need to reread it and see what it says..

here it pretty much says they are not allowed because the item will repeat itself..
just because i choose to mute it is not a loop hole...the item still exists in sl breaking a spam rule..if i decide to let it spam me twice or i come online and have two or more messages then it breaks the TOS/CS? it's a device that spams and is disruptive to the lives of SL residents..not allowed according to this part of the CS..

Disturbing the Peace
Every Resident has a right to live their Second Life. Disrupting scheduled events, repeated transmission of undesired advertising content, the use of repetitive sounds, following or self-spawning items, or other objects that intentionally slow server performance or inhibit another Resident's ability to enjoy Second Life are examples of Disturbing the Peace.


Harassment
Given the myriad capabilities of Second Life, harassment can take many forms. Communicating or behaving in a manner which is offensively coarse, intimidating or threatening, constitutes unwelcome sexual advances or requests for sexual favors, or is otherwise likely to cause ANNOYANCE or alarm is Harassment.