Bulk Mail (anti-spam) FAQs

What is spam?

Why is spam unethical?

How can I help stop spam?

What is your anti-spam policy?

How do I report spammers?

There are three main types of spam: Usenet, message board, and email. Usenet and message board spam are messages sent or posted which are unrelated to the topic of discussion of the particular news group or message board. Email spam is any electronic mail message that is addressed to a recipient with whom the initiator does not have an existing business or personal relationship or is not sent at the request of, or with the express consent of, the recipient.

There are other types of Internet abuse that qualify as spam. These include, but are not limited to, spamming of chat rooms and spamming via Internet Relay Chat or "Instant Messaging" systems (such as ICQ).

For more information on spam visit:

Junk Email
This collaboration between the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Voters Telecommunications Watch offers background on the issues involved, an FAQ, tips on spotting and preventing fraud, legal resources, and a "scamspam" questionnaire you can fill out if you've been a victim.

The Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email
CAUCE is a volunteer group of Internet users who are dedicated to fighting junk email and have formed a coalition to promote legislation that would outlaw unsolicited commercial email.

Why is spam unethical?
We all get junk mail at home. It's an accepted fact of life, at least in the U.S. So why is spam unethical? Unlike the junk mail you receive in your snail mailbox, electronic junk mail costs the recipients more time and money than it costs the sender. It takes time to download, sort through, and identify junk mail, and then discard it. If you pay for Internet access by the hour or minute, then sorting through spam messages leads to increased time online, which translates into higher monthly bills for you.

Spam can slow the performance of the Internet. Large volumes of spam have been known to slow down email delivery for hours or even days, and it sometimes causes computers on the Internet to crash.

Spamming is considered rude. Conduct on the Internet is governed by an unwritten set of rules called Netiquette, and one of those rules is that it's not acceptable to send out unsolicited mass emails.

How can I help stop spam?
There are several steps you can take to help reduce spam:

1. Do not spam!
2. Do not respond to spam.
3. If you receive spam, delete it unread.
4. Join CAUSE, The Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email, and find out how you can become an anti-spam advocate.

What is your anti-spam policy?
Hosting Master Internet does not permit spamming of our family of customers. Consequently, when such email is receive (generally by postmaster error on delivery and in multiples) we actively pursue contacting and ordering such abusers to remove our family of customers domains and email addresses from their lists. After sufficient contact is made, we then pursue punitive damages for repeated offenses (the same goes if the originator is a HMI family {customer} member).

We do believe that there are occasions when one would need or wish to contact someone who they do not have prior affiliation or contact with. Such contact would be considered acceptable if performed on a very personal one on one contact. This view absolutely excludes mass mailing since mass mailing can never be done on a personal basis and also excludes advertising for sex related businesses since this may be offensive to the recipient. We believe that the Internet belongs to US, all of US, You, Yours and our future generations. We are responsible for what our children will have handed down to them and if we are irresponsible, then either we will have nothing or what we will have will be so controlled by a governing body that the beauty of our freedoms will be lost.. Let us take this responsibility seriously and in this is the total of our anti-spam policy.

How do I report spammers?
If you feel that a Hosting Master Internet user has spammed you, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Be sure to include a copy of the email with full message headers or usenet message. Also include any other information that can be used to identify the parties involved.