It has come to our attention that some people are receiving unsolicited commercial email messages (aka "spam") claiming to be from us. These are forgeries and should be deleted unread.

(Note: Use of the word "spam" is a slang reference to unsolicited, unwanted, and frequently offensive email messages. It does not refer to the food product sold by Hormel Corporation.)

For those that've received such messages, please rest assured that:

• We didn't send it, nor have we authorized, partnered with, nor knowingly supported any organization that uses email as a direct marketing (*cough*) technique.
  In fact, we consider direct marketing of this nature to be an invasive, unwanted violation of our privacy. That's why we do not and will not use email as a marketing tool.
• We don't know who's doing this, however, we are actively applying all available forensic techniques to locate those responsible for this abuse. We are also working with the proper authorities to pursue appropriate action.
• We cannot tell you who's doing this, nor can we help you locate those responsible for this. Your email administrator is a more appropriate contact.
• We do not collect, track, nor distribute email addresses, IP addresses, or other personally identifying information.
• We're getting as much of this cr@p (possibly more) as you are and, yes, it ticks us off, too.

If you receive a message from this domain (or one of its authors), you may delete it without reading it unless it matches the following conditions:

• The From: header contains a recognizeable email address. Those expecting such messages should already know this address. If you're not sure, please confirm the message before reading it.
• There are no unexpected attachments. *IF* we need to send you a file, you'll know about it in advance and we'll have discussed a safe strategy for ensuring that nothing happens in transit.

Again, we do not use email as a marketing tool. We never will.

Furthermore, we consider ourselves to be a organization devoted only to the sharing of technical knowledge related to open source, software development, database design, and related tasks. We:

• Don't recommend stocks.
• Don't involve ourselves in matters that should be discussed with medical professionals.
• Don't sell products of any kind. (We have been known to provide certain IT-related services, however, we do not advertise those services using email.)
• Don't use, distribute, or support the unauthorized distribution of commercial software or other intellectual property.
• Don't visit, support, or even care about web sites that carry content we wouldn't look at ourselves, let alone show our spouses or children.

We're sorry you got this stuff and we're sorry it seems to be coming from us. It's not.

Sincerely,
-- The owners of orbis-terrarum.net

Special thanks to techtricks.com for having such an eloquently worded version of what I wanted to say (Original version), and for permission to use it.