Lick A Stamp!
Yes… actual paper letters! It takes a little more effort to print a letter and address an envelope.
If you’re not sure of who your legislators are, check the Wisconsin State Legislature website look-up services:
Who are my state legislators?
The letter doesn’t have to be long: Two paragraphs is more effective than 10 pages. And you don’t need to write different letters, the same one can be sent to your State Representative and your State Senator (just remember to change the mailing address!)
And if you save spam, enclose one or two copies of some of the more offensive or obviously fraudulent ones you’ve received. Let them get a taste of this stuff. (However, we don’t want to get them angry with us so don’t flood them with 50,000 copies! One or two will be fine.)
Pick up a Phone!
What to say? We don’t provide you with “form” letters here, because Legislators can smell a form letter a mile a way. As a result, it’s important that you write your own unique letter, putting your own spin on the issues. Look through the news articles and use quotes and phrases that hit home for you.
Points to Emphasize
To recap, here are some of the important points you might want to include:
- “Junk” email lets the advertisers make a profit while recipients pay the bill. This “Cost Shifting” was the problem with junk faxes, and is just as bad with junk email. If businesses are going to make profits, they should be required to pay the costs of doing business.
- Remind them that this is *not* an issue of censorship, rather it’s about stopping deceptive and damaging business practice.
- Tell them that you support a system that requires an “opt-in,” where individuals don’t receive advertising they don’t want, and don’t have to fight to get themselves dislodged from mailing lists.
- Tell them that you oppose “filtering” or “Opt-Out” approaches because those approaches do not require the advertisers to bear their own costs. Filtering requirements cost ISPs and consumers more money, not less!
Write your Legislators and mail them today!