This first came to my attention earlier this year when readers started complaining about a white list outfit called Spam Arrest. "I recently sent an e-mail to a person I'd just met, and received an email from Spam Arrest saying that because I was someone new, my e-mail was on hold until I clicked a link to prove I was a human and not some kind of spammer," wrote one reader. "Fair enough. About 30 seconds later my e-mail was delivered ...So it's now about a month later and 'Spam Arrest' is spamming me. They don't fake headers and the subject includes 'ADV', but that doesn't change that is, without any doubt, unsolicited commercial e-mail."

So Spam Arrest had decided it was within its rights to send out an e-mail promoting its service to the email addresses of all of its customers' approved correspondents. And, under its privacy policy (http://spamarrest.com/privacy.jsp), there was no question it did, since it states explicitly that it applies to both customers who paid for the Spam Arrest service and "senders" who e-mailed those customers. The senders did not quite see it that way, though, and the resulting hue and cry quickly forced Spam Arrest to issue an apology. It was inappropriate thing for the company to do, Spam Arrest acknowledged somewhat reluctantly, and it wouldn't happen again.

But if Spam Arrest had at least learned not to be so blatant, some readers continued to be concerned about the company's privacy policy. After close study, one reader noted several disturbing things. "First off, they basically lay claim to all e-mail addresses on their customers' white lists, even those that the customers put on without knowledge of the 'sender,' " the reader wrote. "How can they do that when the sender may not even be aware that he or she is on the list? But their policy says they can use that address for marketing/promotional purposes, including advertisements."

The same reader also questioned another part of the privacy policy that states: "Sender's information may also be sold or otherwise provided to Spam monitoring or compliance agencies or organizations..." What was that about, the reader wondered. Could a bulk e-mail outfit be considered a spam-monitoring organization? Was there an implicit threat that those who didn't sign on with Spam Arrest might be reported as spammers?

A Spam Arrest spokesperson told me that, while the company will indeed refrain from sending out any more spam, they still retain the right to market to the senders. "The bottom line is that we are an anti-spam company but we are not an anti-marketing company," she said.

OK, it's a lawyer's job to anticipate every eventuality and give the client as much latitude as possible in its legal boilerplatese. So maybe that ominous language was not motivated by malevolent schemes. And maybe Spam Arrest will indeed refrain from any further spamming of its customers' e-mail correspondents.

But why should we have to worry about these things at all? Remember, we're not talking about Spam Arrest's customers -- we're talking about people who just wanted to send a legitimate e-mail to one of those customers. Or, worse yet, a person who was unknowingly on the white list by that customer and never even had the chance to decline.

Think about it. If you sign up with one of these services -- and there's a whole bunch of them out there now -- you aren't just trusting the company for yourself. You are putting your e-mail correspondents in the position of having to choose whether to trust the service as well or not sending you a message you might want to receive. Is that something you want to do to your friends and business associates?

There are many aggressive anti-spam approaches (including, if you must, implementing white lists on your own server without a third party) that can be just as effective as what these companies can give you. I don't know if Internet e-mail can ultimately be saved from the spam curse, but I do know these white list and challenge/response services are not the way to do it. Just say no.

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