statement from Gratis Internet regarding accusations of selling us emails.

[Trevor Edwards]

Gratis Internet Company Statement:

Allegations made by the New York State Office of the Attorney General that Gratis Internet "sold" email addresses to Datran Media or other companies, and/or that these companies "purchased" personal user information from Gratis Internet are completely untrue.

Here are the facts: Starting in June 2004, for a period of approximately six months, Gratis hired list management firm Datran Media to manage the logistics of marketing products and services via email to Gratis' own user base. After Gratis ended the contract with Datran at the end of 2004, Gratis briefly worked with two other list management companies, JDR and Jumpstart. These list management firms oversaw creative design and back-office support for Gratis' email marketing operations. The companies acted on Gratis' behalf to send promotional emails to its own users, and at no time ever engaged in a sale or purchase of data.

Appointing a specialized vendor to manage such "in house" marketing operations is a commonplace, industry-wide practice. It is analogous, for example, to a retailer outsourcing the logistics of a direct mail campaign to a vendor who creates the graphics, manages the mailing, and interfaces directly with the advertisers the retailer is promoting. The party designing those direct mail pieces, mailing them to consumers, and handling consumer responses is not the retailer - it is a vendor appointed by the retailer to manage that process, part of which involves the retailer giving the vendor access to the addresses of its customers. That's what happened here (between Gratis and its list managers) and it is a standard and totally lawful practice.

At all times, Gratis has maintained control and ownership of its user information and never, not once, profited from any sale of data. After Gratis ceased using Datran's services in December 2004, Datran (as they were contractually obliged) no longer had any access to any of Gratis' user data.

Gratis at no time in its history ever sold its list to anyone or allowed a company to purchase consumer data, nor has it ever considered doing so, nor will it ever in the future. Email marketing represented a small fraction (less than 1.5%) of its 2004 and 2005 revenues, and the company earned less than $35,000 from users in the state of New York from its practice of sending promotional emails.

Establishing and maintaining a bond of trust between Gratis and consumers is a cornerstone of its business. Gratis believes that its impressive growth in recent years is a direct reflection of the fact that, in all its dealings with consumers, the company has behaved in a trustworthy and responsible manner at all times and in all ways.

Source: http://www.gratisinternet.com/pressroom.html#

[Amanda]

How do they explain the spam emails we're all getting then? Particularly when they're to an address I only use for freebie sites.....

[Lee]

if you use the same address for all freebie sites then it may not be gratis...

[Denvar]

and that still doesnt protect you from spam, i have an email addy i have nenver used for anything, havent sent, recieved emails etc and i still get spam

[Mr POOCH]

the freepay site I singed up for never sent me spam.

I did freeflatscreens.com back in jan of 05 and I did their 60GB Photo Ipod one.

did not get any spam from that.

sence I have also started their xbox 360, ps3, psp, game system, and more.

still no spam.

how ever the email that I signed up for other free site and most of my offer with gets 40+ spam a day.

P.S. I am in the US but I don't konw how to change the flag thing

[Amanda]

I pretty much only get spam from what appears to be one source, and have had the email for 8-9 years and have only just started receiving it. Also, other members here have said they get the exact same spam emails. OK, so I can't prove it's Gratis that have given out my email, but it's certainly something to do with the freebie scene.

[Mr POOCH]

Originally Posted by Amanda

I pretty much only get spam from what appears to be one source, and have had the email for 8-9 years and have only just started receiving it. Also, other members here have said they get the exact same spam emails. OK, so I can't prove it's Gratis that have given out my email, but it's certainly something to do with the freebie scene.

I agrea that it is something to do with freebies. that is how I got all my spam. I just can't link any to freepay.