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As somebody who likes to assume good intentions, I would have hoped your second attempt at unsubscribing was to send a polite, nonadversarial email asking to be

As somebody who likes to assume good intentions, I would have hoped your second attempt at unsubscribing was to send a polite, nonadversarial email asking to be removed from the email list you never willingly joined. Assuming that fell on deaf ears, I can understand where you're coming from.

victorstanciu 5y ago
My nonadversarial action was to ignore the first email, that's all the consideration I am willing to give. The onus is not on me to politely ask to be removed from anything.
- maccard 5y ago
  You gave more consideration than was deserved. I would have flagged the first one as spam.
RSZC 5y ago
Oversimplifying, but an unsubscribe link is a legal requirement under many different laws (CAN-SPAM, GDPR, CASL) for this sort of email. It's 2022, unsubscribe links are a solved problem, I'm not going to assume good intentions for somebody who is purposefully breaking the law in order to spam me.
matkoniecz 5y ago
> polite, nonadversarial email Spammers are not entitled to private and nonadversarial communication. Note that in numerous jurisdictions both sending spam and not including unsubscribe link is actively illegal.
maccard 5y ago
> I would have hoped your second attempt at unsubscribing was to send a polite, nonadversarial email asking to be removed from the email list you never willingly joined. Assuming that fell on deaf ears, I can understand where you're coming from. No, absolutely not. You put an unsubscribe button in the footer of the email or I'm marking it as spam. That's _entirely_ on you if you don't do that.
- coldpie 5y ago
  With or without an unsubscribe link, I'm marking it as spam and blacklisting you and your service.
- Macha 5y ago
  If the unsubscribe link requires me to sign in, or pressures me into not doing "Why do you want to unsubscribe? I never signed up. Don't you want our new offers? yes/no", you're also getting the spam report
gwbas1c 5y ago
SPAM is defined by the recipient. Expecting a polite "please unsubscribe" email is inappropriate.
NoOneNew 5y ago
That and 2 emails hardly constitute as "spam". Sure, unwanted but the guy on github and other people in the comments here act like the dude kicked a dog. People need to chill and get some real problems in their life to concern themselves over.
- jffry 5y ago
  This is absolutely spam. Sending not just one unsolicited message but a followup nagging you for not replying is absolutely spammy behavior.
- krageon 5y ago
  A single unwanted email is spam.
  - matkoniecz 5y ago
    That is too much - it would need to be automated or mass send ("unwanted email" includes also things like contact attempt by disliked person which is not spam)
Ekaros 5y ago
I think reasonable legal threat is the correct way. The spammers don't deserve anything less.
vertis 5y ago
I don't assume good intentions and neither should you. If some entity emails me in an automated way without my permission and without any way to unsubscribe it's going straight in spam and being reported to any abuse/spam mechanism that's appropriate. I get the hustling nature of HN, but this behaviour crosses a line and breaks laws in various juristictions. I don't feel the need to politely explain this to people.
Cthulhu_ 5y ago
That's emotional labor and investment to do for something that was unwanted and not opted into in the first place. There's laws in place that make it mandatory to opt-in and to easily unsubscribe from unwanted emails simply because being nice about it didn't work.

victorstanciu 5y ago

My nonadversarial action was to ignore the first email, that's all the consideration I am willing to give. The onus is not on me to politely ask to be removed from anything.

maccard 5y ago
You gave more consideration than was deserved. I would have flagged the first one as spam.

RSZC 5y ago

Oversimplifying, but an unsubscribe link is a legal requirement under many different laws (CAN-SPAM, GDPR, CASL) for this sort of email. It's 2022, unsubscribe links are a solved problem, I'm not going to assume good intentions for somebody who is purposefully breaking the law in order to spam me.

matkoniecz 5y ago

> polite, nonadversarial email Spammers are not entitled to private and nonadversarial communication. Note that in numerous jurisdictions both sending spam and not including unsubscribe link is actively illegal.

maccard 5y ago

> I would have hoped your second attempt at unsubscribing was to send a polite, nonadversarial email asking to be removed from the email list you never willingly joined. Assuming that fell on deaf ears, I can understand where you're coming from. No, absolutely not. You put an unsubscribe button in the footer of the email or I'm marking it as spam. That's _entirely_ on you if you don't do that.

coldpie 5y ago
With or without an unsubscribe link, I'm marking it as spam and blacklisting you and your service.
Macha 5y ago
If the unsubscribe link requires me to sign in, or pressures me into not doing "Why do you want to unsubscribe? I never signed up. Don't you want our new offers? yes/no", you're also getting the spam report

gwbas1c 5y ago

SPAM is defined by the recipient. Expecting a polite "please unsubscribe" email is inappropriate.

NoOneNew 5y ago

That and 2 emails hardly constitute as "spam". Sure, unwanted but the guy on github and other people in the comments here act like the dude kicked a dog. People need to chill and get some real problems in their life to concern themselves over.

jffry 5y ago
This is absolutely spam. Sending not just one unsolicited message but a followup nagging you for not replying is absolutely spammy behavior.
krageon 5y ago
A single unwanted email is spam.
- matkoniecz 5y ago
  That is too much - it would need to be automated or mass send ("unwanted email" includes also things like contact attempt by disliked person which is not spam)

Ekaros 5y ago

I think reasonable legal threat is the correct way. The spammers don't deserve anything less.

vertis 5y ago

I don't assume good intentions and neither should you. If some entity emails me in an automated way without my permission and without any way to unsubscribe it's going straight in spam and being reported to any abuse/spam mechanism that's appropriate. I get the hustling nature of HN, but this behaviour crosses a line and breaks laws in various juristictions. I don't feel the need to politely explain this to people.

Cthulhu_ 5y ago

That's emotional labor and investment to do for something that was unwanted and not opted into in the first place. There's laws in place that make it mandatory to opt-in and to easily unsubscribe from unwanted emails simply because being nice about it didn't work.