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There is this guy who wants me to write a small app that will go to thousands of similar pages that sell the same product and which all look about the same, fill out a form that is meant to request more information on the product they are selling, but instead, send information about a product he's selling that he thinks these guys might find useful.

But I'm a bit afraid about whatever SPAM legislation is out there. Am I being paranoiac? Would you take this job?

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A better question you should always ask before taking up any job is Even if it is legal to do, would you want to do it? – Dipan Mehta Mar 14 '12 at 5:38
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You are polling for people's opinions, and that doesn't really work with the Q&A format of the site. Also the question is not really on topic, it's more of a legal / ethical discussion than a software development one and furthermore career advice is off topic as per our FAQ. I closed it as "not constructive" and not as "off topic" because I think for this specific question the "not constructive" notification better conveys why the question is unsuitable for Programmers. – Yannis Rizos♦ Mar 14 '12 at 7:06
For further details, please read: Good Subjective, Bad Subjective & Real Questions Have Answers. – Yannis Rizos♦ Mar 14 '12 at 7:08
This sounds like standard "opt-in" email marketing and is legit under most circumstances. There are a number of forums around that discuss the proper and legal ways to do this kind of marketing you could consult. As for taking the job, I would if everything is on the up-and-up. I've written and sold programs that facilitated this activity when I was out of work. – jfrankcarr Mar 14 '12 at 13:12

closed as not constructive by Caleb, Yannis Rizos♦ Mar 14 '12 at 7:01

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4 Answers

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  1. If you have any concerns, even tiny ones, about the legality of the project you should talk to a lawyer before agreeing to anything.

  2. How good can the product in question really be if you have to resort to spamming information request forms in order to sell it?

  3. If you were on the receiving end of one of those spam-forms, would you feel inclined to do business with the spammer?

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For me it would depend on how much they pay. I am unsure if it would be unlawful. It really would just be a minor annoyance to the people who read the request forms. I am also thinking recaptcha or similar human verifying functions may be an issue for some.

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I'm sure every one of the pieces of spam I get every day was sent by someone who justified it to themselves by saying: This is just a minor annoyance to the people who receive it -- they'll probably trash it right away anyway. And some of them might really want what we're selling! – Caleb Mar 14 '12 at 6:35
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Well, its a personal choice, at this moment I think I won't do it. No one knows the future.

Since there are lots of programs like this, these are got to be written by someone or the other. Many people are of the opinion that viruses are created by the anti-virus companies.I do not believe it.

In this case, once you made a choice there will be lots of reasons you can find to support either of the choices.

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No.

(Ok, it won't let me enter an answer that short.)

Spam is unethical. If you take the job, you'll be contributing to making the world a worse place.

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