My question is, what's the catch? Why is this service free? Any thoughts or actual information would be appreciated.
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I have three concerns about this service:
1.) The technical details are sketchy.
2.) They appear to hope that users will not be too discerning about their settings as regards receiving marketing emails (see the network partner info below)
3.) They are members of a direct marketing consortium, which explains the funding source and also suggests their leanings (see CheetahMail info below).
Flimsy Technical Details ........................
from item two of the "How It Works" found at
http://www.returnpath.net/how_it_works/
<begin excerpt>
"When a contact discovers that your old e-mail address is no longer current, Return Path's service helps locate you. The requester enters your old e-mail address and asks for your current one."
<end excerpt>
This does not describe, in satisfactory detail, how a contact "discovers" that your email address has changed nor how the service helps them locate you.
Network Partners Info .....................
from the Terms of Service page at http://www.returnpath.net/terms/
<begin excerpt> Rights of Network Partners. Return Path collects e-mail address change information at our web site, www.returnpath.net, and at network partner sites with a pop-up window hosted by Return Path. Return Path's network partners may also collect information from users when they update their e-mail address at network partners' web sites, and may then send the information to Return Path, if the user has opted-in to the Return Path e-mail change of address service.
Return Path's network partners are contractually obligated under Return Path's Network Agreement ("Network Agreement") to abide by the permission status of users who have elected to participate in Return Path's e-mail change of address service. Each of Return Path's network partners is contractually obligated not to use Return Path's change of e-mail address service for consumers who have specifically unsubscribed or opted-out from e-mail communications with that network partner. Failure to adhere to the consumer's stated permission preference constitutes a material breach of the Network Agreement, and Return Path reserves the right to suspend or terminate service to any network partner believed to be violating its users' stated permission preferences.
<end excerpt>
Direct Marketing Group Membership ................................
from http://www.cheetahmail.com/company/partners.html
<begin excerpt>
More than 30 percent of consumers change an e-mail address each year. How many of those are your customers? Return Path helps companies recover these online relationships with Return Path ECOA, an e-mail change of address service. Consumers register more than 1,000,000 e-mail address changes to Return Path monthly. Return Path confirms these addresses, and then facilitates consumer-approved updates to their clients' customer e-mail lists. Free to consumers, Return Path helps users easily stay connected with the online relationships they value. Return Path, a member of the Direct Marketing Association, is also the e-mail change of address service for the United States Postal Service's online moving portal.
<end excerpt>
I'm sure it's useful but you'd probably have to ride herd over the service to make sure your inbox wasn't needlessly stuffed with offers.
DRM
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