1. Any time you're sending a message no matter how large your e-mail list is you must throttle it. We recommend you throttle it to at the very least sending 1 email every 8 seconds. (Sending 1 every 8 seconds would send 450 emails within 1 hour, keeping you below the 500 outgoing email limit.) If the mailing list software you're using does not allow you to throttle you must switch to an application or script that will. We recommend PHPList, which can be found in your CPanel, under Quickinstall.
IMPORTANT: If you do not throttle and you try sending 500 emails, the server will try sending all 500 in 1 second which is not possible on our shared servers. This will cause a very high load on the server and the entire server will be sluggish, potentially affecting your sites and service, until this sending process is completed. It is our job to keep the server up and running without being sluggish or experiencing issues. Anyone who causes the server's load to go high will be suspended and the process will be terminated. If you choose not to throttle, you will most likely be suspended for crashing the server.
2. Any mailing list over 900 email addresses is only allowed to be sent to during off-peak times to prevent high server loads. Off peak times qualify as all day Saturday and Sunday, and 1AM - 8AM Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday.
3. The list must be a Double Opt-In list. This means a user has subscribed for a newsletter or other email marketing messages by explicitly requesting it and confirming the email address to be their own. Confirmation is usually done by responding to a notification/confirmation email sent to the email address the end user specified. The double opt-in method eliminates the chance of abuse where somebody submits someone else's email address without their knowledge and against their will. You will not be permitted to mail any mailing list that you were given or purchased. In doing so, this will also be considered spamming and may result in termination of the offending account.
Email Scripts must be able to handle and document all information from a double opt-in list. This includes processing opt-outs (via web or email) and list removal on bounce backs. All opt-outs or bounce back removals must be handled in a timely manner, and outbound mail must be throttled on shared packages to a maximum of five hundred (500) emails per hour. If your account is found to be using a script that does not meet these requirements, the server reserves the right to suspend, terminate, or deactivate your script or account.
4. Any unsolicited e-mail being sent will result in suspension or termination of the offending account. We take a zero tolerance stance against sending of unsolicited e-mail and other forms of spam.
5. Any mailling list MUST comply with all guidelines set forth by the United States government. These can be found at:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/ecommerce/bus61.shtm .
6. No direct SMTP mailers are allowed. An example of this would be a Darkmailer or The Bat!. Any mail should be sent through the local mail server/MTA for further delivery by the server and not done directly by scripts.
Opt in mailing lists and Safelists
- Email addresses on a single opt-in list are not confirmed. Anybody can submit anybody's address to the list, and it will be there until it is unsubscribed. This will be treated as spam.
- On a double opt-in list, all email address must be confirmed before they are added. A request for confirmation is sent to the submitted address and the address owner must take some action to confirm that
- she is the owner of the email address,
- the address is working and
- she indeed wants to subscribe.
Most often, the confirmation action is as simple as replying to the confirmation request or clicking on a link.
A safelist is a group of people who have agreed to receive emails from one another. Usually, the group requires membership and has rules regarding how often you are allowed to email the members.
