Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist apparently wants to protect his state’s residents from spam. Unless, that is, it comes from him.
Crist has been aggressively prosecuting people he alleges have run afoul of anti-spam legislation in his state and issuing press releases touting his efforts.
“Spam is a pervasive and growing threat to unsuspecting computer users everywhere,” said Crist in a Dec. 16 press release announcing a suit against one Floridian. “Spam is an annoying and sometimes offensive intrusion into the lives of Floridians,” said Crist in a Dec. 6 press release announcing a temporary injunction against two others.
However, the Republican candidate for governor has been obtaining Floridians’ e-mail addresses and sending them messages touting his campaign and asking for donations, the St. Petersburg Times reported recently.
Crist’s campaigners reportedly built an e-mail list in part by filing public records requests for e-newsletter requests sent to the attorney general's office and governor's office.
In late December, state employees received Crist campaign e-mails on their state e-mail accounts: “I need your help to spread our message of consistent conservatism—less taxes, less government and more freedom,” Crist’s e-mail said. “Your donation of $500, $250, $100 or $25 will go a long way toward supporting our efforts.”
One recipient reportedly had to ask to be removed from Crist’s mailing list five times before he was successful.
"It’s not spam,” Arlene DiBenigno, Crist's political director, told the St. Petersburg Times. “It’s political speech. We're not selling anything, we’re not being deceptive. We love the First Amendment, and there's nothing more powerful than political speech.”
Most people—including Florida’s voters—define spam as unsolicited, bulk e-mail, period. Crist will probably find this out for himself soon enough.
