Can You Prove Your E-Mail Isn't Spam?

The article is all about signing company email so that ISPs don't filter it. I thought it was going to be about spam, you know, unsolicited commercial email messages.

Companies doing business on the Internet routinely send advertising emails to anyone who dares to purchase from them. Unless the customer explicitly requests email from that company, any email that is not regarding that particular order is spam.

The article goes on and on about signing email with Sender ID and DomainKeys. It begins with, "There are some simple steps your company can take to demonstrate that the e-mails you're sending aren't spam."

Here's 1 simple step companies can take to avoid sending spam: Don't send advertisements unless requested.

BTW, here's Hormel Foods Corporation's policy on "spam" and their trademark, SPAM: http://www.spam.net/ci/ci_in.htm

Technically, neither Sender ID nor DomainKeys "demonstrate that the e-mails you're sending aren't spam."

Their purpose is to verify that the message is actually coming from the appropriate servers for the senders email address. That may prevent messages from being received from 'owned' PCs or open relays, but in no way does it indicate that the message is not spam.