Not any more than the passage of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 meant the end of email marketing. In the case of the CAN-SPAM, its the codefication of the minimum standards of execution and puts the onus on the email marketer.
The most effective anti-spam services as my recent posts have shown need to put control into the hands of the user, so that they can decide how they want to be marketed to.
As a marketer and consultant, I am keen to receive email from people and companies that I have never heard of before, if they are delivering a solution, a technology or a service in an area that I care about. I am not keen to receive obnoxious email about products to lose weight, get cheaper medications or make millions of dollars instantly. But I shouldn't have the power to decide for my colleagues, or other email users of my server, unless they are breaking some ethical standard affecting the work environment or breaking a law. [Hate email, illegal acts, pornography come to mind] These are my choices.
My co-workers may prefer to not receive any mail from people that they didn't explicitly ask for – which is fine by me.
The industry has got to figure out how to allow user control over email. To spur the thought in this direction, I am executing an online survey on the business applications of email. Check it out. Complete the survey and you may be eligible to participate in a drawing for an iPod Shuffle.
