5 steps for freedom

I have been getting huge amounts of spam of late. Mostly because, apparently, I have been sending huge amounts of spam. Because my email addresses are openly used on sites I publish - including enquiry links - my identity is routinely stolen and used by spammers. I take it they use robots to trawl the web looking for email addresses to steal. It is a pain in the backside and gives me a dim view of all unsolicited mail.

I have been barraged by mail from a thing called Something for Kate. A band I gather. Don't recall ever hearing their music or signing on for their news. Annoyed that there is just so much stuff coming through my pipe before I can get to anything of value I decided to use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of SfKs latest missive.

It took me to the Sony BMG website - there are 5 steps required to unsubscribe from this newsletter I don't recall ever subscribing to.

Seems like bad business to me.

It reminds me of a line in the outstanding documentary DiG! - which chronicles the rise of the bands The Dandy Warhols and the frustrating failure of The Brian Jonestown Massacre: Anton Newcombe the self destructive musical genius and leader of BJM says of record companies "I write the letter and they just deliver it…"

Well he's not wrong there.

Sony BMG are delivering the mail for their artistes - whether I want it or not.

BuyDiG! 4 stars on Amazon (7.8 rating on IMDB)

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