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Comment by petercooper | Hacker News Reader

The 'enter your e-mail address to get X' approach is spreading! Unsurprising.. because it works like gangbusters :-)

In this case, you get an e-mail that says: "Periodically we'll drop you a line if we have something interesting to share." (There's also an unsubscribe link.) They'll get to build up an incredible list with this.

I'm happy to see 37signals using this approach as it helps legitimize the technique of building a list using free content without disclosing a subscription up front. Till now I've avoided this technique but I imagine it could convert like crazy and build a good list if done right.

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What they're doing is actually a violation of their email marketing software provider's Terms of Service (specifically, the Anti-Spam Policy - http://www.campaignmonitor.com/anti-spam/).

That policy clearly states that "This checkbox must not be checked by default, the person completing the form must willingly select the checkbox to indicate they want to hear from you."

Having no checkbox AND no indication you're joining any sort of list breaks the rules set by their provider.

(I'm making the assumption they continue to use CampaignMonitor).

You make a good point, but in this case I think it's implicit in their form that you're joining a list of some kind. Otherwise, they would just have a download link.

I assumed they didn't want people linking the download directly, so they were sending out personalized links. Apparently I assumed wrong!

I think it's on a par with getting an update every now and then from a store you've bought something from. The 'subscription' is rarely disclosed in this case, but there's understood to be a 'relationship'.

I had a look through MailChimp's TOS and it could be interpreted a few ways but this sort of 'existing relationship' thing is covered, although it pertains to a purchase rather than a freebie.

Even if I bought from a store it's not expected, and because I always look for the opt-out checkboxes, anything unexpected goes to the spam bin.

I don't want a relationship - I just want a one-night... transaction. If I just want to download the file I'll use a disposable email address just for the principle of the thing, even if it's a company I normally wouldn't mind hearing from.

I actually want to get their email. It will allow me to analyze their marketing tactics directly.

You and me both!

Do as they do...

I have a list of email adresses I use just for these fake subscriptions..

I just use a temporary mail service (e.g. http://10minutemail.com).

Or http://www.jetable.org/en/index

or http://mailinator.com

while we are at it here is the one I used to download (didn't open the comments first) http://guerrillamail.com

But the majority of people don't.

But who really cares? It isn't like 37signals is spamming people. As far as less reputable people, I don't want what they're giving away anyway.

This is where the email+3ysignals@gmail.com email syntax comes in handy.

I like to use a wildcard @mydomain.com so I can create a new one on the spot and individually track who sends what. If one ever acts up I can just start forwarding that address to the ether. Works well with 1and1's basic hosting plan.

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