Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
The Out-of-Focus Group.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                                       

Unsubscribe.com

A safe way to unsubscribe
  (+5, -1)
(+5, -1)
  [vote for,
against]

I didn't search too much so if it's baked, I'll remove it.

This domain name gives users email boxes only if the source is real and can be unsubscribed. Also the users of this remove-me service can rest assured that nobody will use the unsubscribe info to get at you with more spam.

You could also ask (but sadly cannot force) the potential spammers who use this service (because they want to be acknowledged as some true source) to remove your name from their list in the first place.

Last but not least, this site will have a list of known spams and a follow-up on the spammed content, including forums, so that when you get your next letter from the crown prince of Lombugu, you could read the stories of people who fell for it, and save yourself 12 dollars and 99 cents.

// I know people who actually fall for these kinds of scams, and could use a simple site helping them sort out these emails.

pashute, Nov 02 2002

Please log in.
If you're not logged in, you can see what this page looks like, but you will not be able to add anything.
Short name, e.g., Bob's Coffee
Destination URL. E.g., https://www.coffee.com/
Description (displayed with the short name and URL.)






       Un is the greatest prefix. 'unkiss.'
General Washington, Nov 02 2002
  

       I develop websites and would be interested in working with you with this idea. I won't charge you, I wanna work with you its a great idea. Email me at e_eberly@yahoo.com
nuttyideas, Nov 02 2002
  

       Nutty, your email address should be on your profile page. Just click on your name, or use the left link *account: edit*
thumbwax, Nov 03 2002
  

       I think this is a great idea. I actually had to get a new email address not long ago because I was getting so much junk which I just couldn't block. I'm sure I always tick the boxes at the bottom of forms as well. Anyway, a croissant for your idea...
chard, Nov 03 2002
  

       Just checked my email:
new messages: 4 (4 junk)
Junk mail: 127 (all junk from the past week)
  

       The world needs this service! Have an un-unsubscribable croissant!
NickTheGreat, Nov 03 2002
  

       You should do this, I'd pay for the service just to stop getting the junk.
Miss Weston Smith, Nov 03 2002
  

       Go easy on the prince. Did you read his message? He has really had it rough. I wonder why he had to use all caps, though.
bungston, Nov 04 2002
  

       Okay, so I'm not sure how it would be done either, but would it be great if......?
Miss Weston Smith, Nov 04 2002
  

       I'm with waug---I've read this idea three times, and I can make no sense of how it would actually work.
krelnik, Nov 04 2002
  

       Simple. The service does not give out your email to it's subscribers. So when you receive email with an "send unscubscribe to soandso@unsubscribe.com" you know that soandso will not know who you are. Is that so hard to implement?   

       You can be sceptical about my ideas, but why the glee?
pashute, Nov 04 2002
  

       I can already unsubscribe from "legitimate" ones. They are only about 2 out of the 1000+ spams I get weekly, so I just filter them all. The proposed service would get rid of the 2. Just 998 to go!
Amos Kito, Nov 05 2002
  

       Go to a Happy Place
thumbwax, Nov 06 2002
  

       [iv] - is that your spam address?
PeterSilly, Nov 06 2002
  

       //suck the sweat off a dead man's balls//
[UB], that won't stop Spam. Don't ask how I know.
  

       I unsubscribed to this idea because of a bad feeling about the spam I’d get:
‘Sign up with Unsubscribe.com today. It’s absolutely free (or $29.95 a month without ads). Plus, we’ll send you selected great offers hourly. Just click “Unsubscribe”, and we’ll send e-mails telling you that it worked, plus more great offers. All of our real sources will gladly spam you unless you unsubscribe from each one, just once a day.’
Amos Kito, Nov 06 2002
  

       Has anybody tried the Free program called MailWasher? It 's just that no one has mentioned it so far and I find that surprising since the guy who wrote it is from New Zealand. Isn't this near more than half of the "bakery's population? Anyway, It allows you to preview mail on your "server" and select what you choose to download to your computer. The rest is "bounced" sending a signal to the sender that the account is no longer valid. After you get through all of the trickle down spammers there is a noticeable lack of mail. Of course only until you use that address for something indiscriminately again.
hollajam, Nov 06 2002
  

       Don't most free accounts get de-activated after either a) you don't check them for a certain period of time, or b) they get full?   

       I like to use kissmy@ss.com when I need to register for something.
snarfyguy, Nov 06 2002
  

       Amos, the point is to return our confidence in email actions. We can then say yes to an e-letter, and then revert and say no later on.   

       Also I looked at the numbers in my junk box. Every day I get around 50 junk mails from subscribtion services that seem OK, and about 100 which are total fakes. I can easily and automatically sort out the fakes, but the other ones (technical articles I did not ask for, news about some software that I actually bought, or maybe I was just contemplating of buying, not sure...   

       I was once at a consulting company whos sales decided to send all their clients a notice about an important course with a key speaker from abroad. Somehow the software looped through the list too many times, and did not stop although the names were removed from the list. We had many phone calls from angry clients, and I remember the secretaries crying because they were yelled at. But no-one dared press the unsubscribe.   

       Last but not least, please notice the last issue on this idea.
pashute, Feb 27 2006
  

       Aside from the last two paragraphs, I can't make any sense of this idea. What exactly is it meant to be? The over-riding messages from the comments seem to be "I hate spam. Have a bun" or "How will this work?"
hidden truths, Feb 27 2006
  

       Re-explained: There are two types of spam:   

       one is clearly spam,   

       the other is related to lists you perhaps subscribed to by mistake or on purpose but forgot about long ago, or emails coming from companies that you have had some type of contact with. These emails are cordiously marked with the possibility to click and thus be "removed from the list".   

       But, nobody today does this, because everyone is afraid its a fraud email, the rather than UNlisting you it is doing the opposite. It found your auto-responder by chance, and now that you reply NO, they know that you are alive and kicking.   

       This idea of unsubsriber.com lets companies work thru a single trusted site (like paypal is trusted in its field). And the users dont have the feeling that there's no way to talk back.   

       In the original idea, posted above, the site will ALSO store information about spams for the people who wish to unsubscribe, so that they can check out the information about the spam, find out how common it is, who is backing it, and what its source probably is.   

       It works simply thus: Brainbench or some other known company send you an email saying that they have a new free product available. On the bottom of the page it says with a short explanation   

       unsubscribe.com : brainbench2   

       You go to unsubscribe.com choose brainbench2 and you are unsubscribed, but only if brainbench is truly using this service. In which case, the subscription AND unsubscription have both never really been known to Brainbench, nore to anyone else, but left inside the software. Brainbench can spill in their info about targeted emails, but will never know who really got off or on, unless these people where actually active in their website, and left their mark.   

       Hope this explains the idea.
pashute, Feb 28 2006
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle