FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:			 	CONTACT:  Marshall Hays
May 4, 2001						http://www.emailabuse.org
							214-221-9700


EMAILABUSE.ORG PERFORMS CASE-STUDY ON ABOUT.COM'S BARGAINDOG


DALLAS - Online consumer protection site EmailAbuse.org's recent case-study of 
BargainDog.com's email practices has uncovered a tedious, cumbersome unsubscribe 
process that flirts with being irresponsible and abusive to its users.
	
	Appropriately, BargainDog.com's questionable dedication to responsible 
email was brought to light through the About.com-owned site's refusal to provide 
even the most basic list sign-up security measures, including verification that 
the person receiving the email is actually the person who signed up for the 
list. This omission alone implies an abuse of user email.
	
	As EmailAbuse.org looked further into the unsubscribe process, even more 
apparent abuse was discovered.  "The process to remove a name from the 
BargainDog.com mailing list seems engineered for frustration," said Clark Allen 
of EmailAbuse.org.  "This is such a disappointing case because it appears that 
the unsubscribe process was made intentionally difficult in a misguided attempt 
to retain users."
	
	EmailAbuse.org found that even basic provisions such as the "get help 
unsubscribing" email address was non-functional, returning a "mailbox does not 
exist" message.  However, it was noted that the banner ads on every page of the 
extended process functioned perfectly.
	
	EmailAbuse.org was founded in 1997 to combat email abuse and give users 
some recourse when dealing with irresponsible companies.  The site covers the 
latest SPAM legislation, viruses, and other email-related topics.