4 ms·

They're not "censoring people for discussing a perfectly legal technology"; read their policy carefully: >>> It’s important to note that this update to our pol

They're not "censoring people for discussing a perfectly legal technology"; read their policy carefully: >>> It’s important to note that this update to our policy does not prevent the discussion of related topics in messages sent through our platform. For example, journalists and publications may send cryptocurrency-related information as long as they’re not involved in the production, sale, exchange, storage, or marketing of cryptocurrencies. <<< Unfortunately, the reality is: there's a LOT of fraud associated with the production, promotion and sale of ICOs, and it's no doubt creating expense, risk, and overhead for Mailchimp. As a private company, it's entirely proper and reasonable for them to prohibit activities that directly affect their business.

untog 9y ago
Counterpoint: there's a LOT of fraud associated with the production and sale of handbags, but I don't see Mailchimp blocking that any time soon. I agree that as a private company they can do what they want, but I wonder if they're setting themselves a difficult precedent here.
- opencl 9y ago
  This isn't a remotely new or unique precedent. Mailchimp and every other email marketing company have always had lists of prohibited content categories. https://mailchimp.com/legal/acceptable_use/ https://mailchimp.com/legal/acceptable_use/ https://ui.constantcontact.com/CCProhibitedContent.jsp https://ui.constantcontact.com/CCProhibitedContent.jsp https://help.convertkit.com/article/76-terms https://help.convertkit.com/article/76-terms
- wolph 9y ago
  If enough people report those mails as spam, they'll ban those too. They're simply protecting their business, nothing more, nothing less. Every mail I receive that I didn't sign up for gets a spam report from me. With that in mind, every single ICO mail I've gotten has been spam.
lightedman 9y ago
"sale, exchange, storage," There's no way MailChimp can know about any of this with any reasonable amount of certainty unless they're actively violating their user's privacy and reading the e-mails themselves. Machine learning is horrible with context.
millettjon 9y ago
In fact they are in at least some cases. https://twitter.com/aantonop/status/979489136439693313 https://twitter.com/aantonop/status/979489136439693313
SilasX 9y ago
I mostly agree but this: >>not involved in the exchange of cryptocurrencies ... seems overkill. So any journalist who has actually transacted with Bitcoins is off the platform? That seems like mainly negative effects from the standpoint of "selecting for informed journalists". "Sure, you can use our platform to talk about cryptocurrencies, as long as you're just one of those admire-from-a-distance types." Ditto for production -- that would include e.g. anyone who's contributed code.

untog 9y ago

Counterpoint: there's a LOT of fraud associated with the production and sale of handbags, but I don't see Mailchimp blocking that any time soon. I agree that as a private company they can do what they want, but I wonder if they're setting themselves a difficult precedent here.

opencl 9y ago
This isn't a remotely new or unique precedent. Mailchimp and every other email marketing company have always had lists of prohibited content categories. https://mailchimp.com/legal/acceptable_use/ https://mailchimp.com/legal/acceptable_use/ https://ui.constantcontact.com/CCProhibitedContent.jsp https://ui.constantcontact.com/CCProhibitedContent.jsp https://help.convertkit.com/article/76-terms https://help.convertkit.com/article/76-terms
wolph 9y ago
If enough people report those mails as spam, they'll ban those too. They're simply protecting their business, nothing more, nothing less. Every mail I receive that I didn't sign up for gets a spam report from me. With that in mind, every single ICO mail I've gotten has been spam.

lightedman 9y ago

"sale, exchange, storage," There's no way MailChimp can know about any of this with any reasonable amount of certainty unless they're actively violating their user's privacy and reading the e-mails themselves. Machine learning is horrible with context.

millettjon 9y ago

In fact they are in at least some cases. https://twitter.com/aantonop/status/979489136439693313 https://twitter.com/aantonop/status/979489136439693313

SilasX 9y ago

I mostly agree but this: >>not involved in the exchange of cryptocurrencies ... seems overkill. So any journalist who has actually transacted with Bitcoins is off the platform? That seems like mainly negative effects from the standpoint of "selecting for informed journalists". "Sure, you can use our platform to talk about cryptocurrencies, as long as you're just one of those admire-from-a-distance types." Ditto for production -- that would include e.g. anyone who's contributed code.