"I got a bit of spam from 3Com today, which would not be noteworthy except that the 'unsubscribe' page really made me mad," the reader wrote recently. "It wouldn't just let me unsubscribe my email address -- it demanded my name, company, and zip code. And it says by submitting that information, I'm consenting to let them use it in accordance with their privacy policy."

The reader doesn't know how 3Com got his e-mail address, although he suspects it may have been from one of the many trade publications he subscribes to online. The e-mail, which promoted 3Com networking solutions, stated at the end of the message that:

"If you do not wish to receive future e-mails from 3Com click here: http://www.3com.com/solutions/en_US/3com_updates.html. If you do not follow these directions your name may not be suppressed from future 3Com e-mail campaigns."

When the reader clicked on the unsubscribe page link, he was presented with a web form with required fields for first name, last name, e-mail address and zip code, plus an optional field for company. Below that the web form stated:

"By submitting the above details to 3Com and proceeding with this activity, you consent to the collection, processing and use of that data in accordance with 3Com's Privacy Statement available for viewing at www.3com.com/legal/privacy.html."

Of course, the privacy policy that 3Com cites allows the company to use any information you provide them to contact you with marketing offers from 3Com or any of its "business partners." In other words, 3Com's opt-out procedure winds up forming a nice little circle. In order to opt out, you have to agree that 3Com can choose to opt you back in.

When confronted with the unsubscribe form, the reader had decided to go ahead with the opt out, using phony information for all the required fields except the e-mail address. "I don't bother doing this with the fly-by-nighters, of course, but I would expect a company like 3Com to actually honor opt-outs," the reader wrote. "Maybe I was wrong. When I clicked submit it said 'Thank you for the information.' Lucky I just made stuff up. But it's just goofy -- does the law somehow allow them to do this 'infinite opt-out?'"

Good question. And it's probably a good bet that the answer, at least as far as the Can Spam Act is concerned, is yes. Hey, all that 3Com is doing is getting what Can Spam calls "subsequent affirmative consent" -- permission to keep on spamming you after you've opted out. After all, just because you never asked a spammer to send you e-mail doesn't mean you should have the right to make them stop. That's the attitude the U.S. Congress had when Congress passed the Can Spam Act, and, sadly, it seems to be the attitude 3Com has now.