What is Internet SPAM?

Internet SPAM is one or more unsolicited email message, much like “Junk Mail” you receive in your mailbox at home. Because email is “Free” for advertisers to send it is exploited to the point that 55% of all emails are SPAM. Not only does SPAM clog up your inbox and waist your time, some can and will be of a pornographic nature. Most people don’t want to have unsolicited pictures popping up on their monitors for their children to see. We want to help our customers avoid the hassles and cost associated with SPAM. For that very reason we have taken some affirmative steps to do so.

So what does RTC Internet do?

RTC Internet has assembled a system that tags messages the industry considers to be SPAM. Once a message is tagged we allow our customers to decide how to proceed with handling the messages using our Webmail client system (Catt Mail). Furthermore, we have created a set of advanced tools to allow you to process email messages to better fit your needs, all conveniently located in Catt Mail.

RTC Internet values your privacy & takes exceptional measures to keep your email addresses private. We do NOT sell, distribute or otherwise provide your email address to third parties.

How much does this service Cost?

IT'S FREE! If you are customer or RTC Internet and have an active "@catt.com" e-mail, this service is included in your monthly rate. Consider it another great reason to choose us as your ISP.

Can I do anything to help?

Yes. We suggest you consider the following:

1. Be very careful when filling out forms on your computer.
   Whether you are registering for a drawing or installing a new program, if you fill out a form that includes your email address, you’re asking for junk mail. Your email address is valuable to individuals that do bulk mailings and most likely will be sold. AOL recently admitted to selling lists of their customer’s email addresses.
2. Never post your “real” email address on a newsgroup.
   There are many robot programs that can be used to pull email addresses from newsgroup servers.
3. Be careful subscribing to a mailing list.
   This should be obvious, but again, your email address can be traded or sold to others.
4. Your email address can be scanned from a web page.
   If your email address appears on a web page anywhere, web crawlers that are designed to “read” web pages can recognize email addresses and save them to a list.
5. Swiping your ID badge at a convention might get you unexpected email.
   We’ve all done it. The vendor says they’ll send you more info, or enter you in the drawing. Later you get junk mail from other “partner” vendors. It’s the same with email addresses.

While no SPAM filtering system is perfect we can boast a 90% effectiveness ratio with our SPAM system. It is possible, because of our aggressive posture in flagging SPAM, some legitimate email messages could be mistaken as SPAM. For this reason we do not filter your email, we only mark it as SPAM and allow you to decide how to proceed with processing your messages.

For more information or to sign-up for RTC Internet service, give us a call or e-mail us at sales@catt.com

Last Updated Tuesday, May 18 2004 @ 04:03 PM EDT