Is the Florida Attorney General a Spammer?

By Eric Goldman

This is hardly the first time that politicians have been caught spamming (in Florida or otherwise), but the irony is palpable. According to Reuters:

“Charlie Crist was a staunch defender of a tough anti-spam law passed by the state legislature last year [but] Crist, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, had annoyed some residents of the state by sending them unwanted e-mails promoting his candidacy and soliciting campaign donations.”

Crist’s spokesperson stated: “This is not spam. This is truthful, it’s straight forward. We’re honest. To be spam it has to be, under Florida law, defined as being deceptive.”

I love this legal double-speak textualist response. Deceptive email is spam, but unsolicited email to constituents is good politics. It’s good that Crist is savvy enough about his constituents’ attitudes towards spam to know the difference.