How can I stop VH1 from spamming me?

Factual Questions
1

A few months ago, someone started going around using my email address to sign up for various mailing lists. I have been successful at getting myself off of all these lists, except for one: The VH1 mailing list. Over the last two months (and that is not an exaggeration), I have tried repeatedly to get myself removed from that list with no success. The instructions at the bottom say to reply with “unsubscribe” in the subject. I’ve done that at least five times. On the VH1 website, it says “To remove your name or your child’s name from the MTVi database entirely” send a request to remove@mtvi.com. I’ve done that a half a dozen times. Their help page has a customer service address, help@vh1mail.com. I’ve written to that address probably ten or more times, sometimes getting an auto-reply that says that they “read every email” and they’ll get back to me. I’ve never received a single real reply.

In semi-desperation, I tried sending to abuse@mtvi.com and postmaster@mtvi.com and abuse@vh1mail.com and postmaster@vh1mail.com. More than once. No answers whatsoever. (In fact, the “abuse” addresses bounced! I thought that the accepted practice was for every domain to have an “abuse” address.)

In total desperation, I searched around until I found the mtv.com sales page that listed the email addresses of various directors and even the senior vice president of ad sales. I wrote to all of them, politely (honest) explaining the situation and that I just wanted someone to get me off the VH1 mailing list. No response whatsoever.

Aside from being totally amazed that an organization that big could be using dysfunctional mailing list software (if my initial unsubscribe request had been handled automatically, that would have been the end of it), I am flabbergasted that all of my emails to so many different “people” have been totally ignored.

So, now I turn to the collective wisdom: How can I get myself removed from the VH1 mailing list?

P.S. Let me be clear on my use of the term “spam” here. I don’t hold VH1 totally responsible for the initial sign-up, although if their mailing list software used a double opt-in approach (like many of the others that my “friend” signed me up for did), there never would have been a problem. But I do consider “spam” to be the correct term now because I have repeatedly asked to be removed from the list, and my requests have all been ignored. VH1 is continuing to send me unwanted email after I have notified them that I do not want it. That qualifies it as spam.

2

Well, you could always set up your email program to reject any incoming mail from that particular email address (assuming you use Outlook; not sure about other programs). That would stop you from getting the mail, although of course you’d still be on their mailing list.

3

If you use hotmail (it works with hotmail, I haven’t tried it with Outlook, etc.), you can set up a filter diverts any address containing a specific phrase (eg. VH1) to the junk mail folder, which is deleted after a week (?), it worked for me with damn naviant networks, anyway.

4

While I do appreciate the desire to help, my question is not “How can I filter out spam”. I want to know how I can get VH1 – who claim to be running a legitimate opt-in mailing list – to actually take me off their list. If all I wanted to do is filter out their crap, I could have done that weeks ago. I want to find a way to make someone at that company aware of the fact that they are spamming me, and make it stop. And, while I realize this is likely a vain hope, maybe even get someone to FIX their mailing list software and/or their “support” line so that other people won’t experience the frustration that I have.