This was passed on to me by a friend and I wanted to see if it was legit. The sites appear to be real and Googling doesn’t show me any sites that refute it except for possibly one french language hoaxbusters site but there appears to be no conclusions drawn. Also this letter isn’t requiring an email address so I’m inclined to think it’s not spam.
On another note, how much effect do these electronic petitions have? Thanks in advance.
Snopes says it is genuine.
BTW, you do have to enter an email address on the second page of the petition signup, but the BBC and other reputable news sources have covered this; the story itself is genuine; there is a possibility that the domain amnistiaporsafiya.org is run by a spammer piggybacking on a real story; a whois search did not help much.
On another note, how much effect do these electronic petitions have?
I would think somewhere between zero and none. How easy is it to fake a bunch of names? How hard is it to verify any of the signators? What reason is there to think that the authorities involved give a rat’s patoot about a bunch of folks on the internet think?
Here’s the key thing about this: “…send it to everyone in your address book.” In my book, that alone makes it spam, and what’s worse, spam specifically intended to generate more spam. It makes some people feel like they’re doing good, but all they really accomplish is adding more clogging crap to the e-mail system.
I just checked out the Amnesty website and the domain is one of theirs; it is the Spanish division, so the appeal is genuine.
A better idea is to write an actual paper letter; details here
From Amesty International (USA) regarding the Amina Lawal case:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/2003/nigeria05062003.html
IMHO: a list of e-mail signatures is NOT going to help any cause directly, but might be a valuable resource to fund-raising campaigns!!!
Did they email him asking for money?
Did he let them know in advance that it was okay for them to do that?
If the answers to these questions are “yes” and “no”, respectively, then yes, this is spam, because that’s the definition of “spam”: undesired solitation via email.
From merriam-webster:
Main Entry: 1 spam
Pronunciation: 'spam
Function: noun
Etymology: from a skit on the British television series Monty Python’s Flying Circus in which chanting of the word Spam (trademark for a canned meat product) overrides the other dialogue
Date: 1994
: unsolicited usually commercial E-mail sent to a large number of addresses
I think, however, the people at Hormel should have serious words with the people at Merriam-Webster, trademarks being what they are and all. I mean, really… they list the canned meat product in the etymology without referencing it in the definition of the word. Makes it sound like people who have spam for lunch are eating unsolicited email, because that’s the only kind of spam there is…
Did they email him asking for money?
While this is a feature of most spam, it’s not a necessary requirement (note your definition says usually commercial). In this instance, it’s soliciting one’s time, action, and furtherance of itself.
Yes. It is not a hoax, however.
Snopes has a good page on the (in)effectiveness of internet petitions.