Is Link Spamming Illegal like Normal Spamming? Does it have a Penalty?

[sand_wizard]

Is it illegal in USA and Canada?
if not, what are the penalties?
notice i said link spam. not email spam. BH SEO.
how does the law see this?

what if you accept your paychecks from affiliate networks to your bank account?

can people who link spam pay taxes and not worry about cyber crime unit or whatever they're called to get to them?

 

[sand_wizard]

let's hear some opinions folks.
would you simply get a warning or would it be illegal?

 

[oldenstylehats]

let's hear some opinions folks.
would you simply get a warning or would it be illegal?

The only way you would attract attention is if the links you were spamming lead to pages with something illegal or nefarious on them OR if the sites you were spamming sent you a C&D or similar and you didn't cease or desist.

 

[sand_wizard]

but then what if you make 10 million dollars a month, LITERALLY?
1 bank account under your corporate name,

and would IRS or whatever tax revenue agencies be curious about HOW you make this much amount of money, paying taxes or not?

 

[oldenstylehats]

but then what if you make 10 million dollars a month, LITERALLY?
1 bank account under your corporate name,

and would IRS or whatever tax revenue agencies be curious about HOW you make this much amount of money, paying taxes or not?

The IRS doesn't care about you as long as you pay your taxes. $10M/month in revenue is not a lot of money in the grand scheme of US business.

 

[sand_wizard]

Sounds alright... Though this is Canada i'm talking about.
I'm just wondering if there's a law against link spamming.
If there is, there's nothing I can do to legally use it...

 

[purebackend]

If you're asking about Canucksville, why did you ask about IRS? hehe

As for taxes in Canada, they are much much much nicer then IRS evilness. However, you should still file everything and pay everything.

As for large amounts of income, the sources aren't hidden, it will show it is from marketing services. That's all they care about. You don't have anything to worry about, even if they ask questions there's nothing to hide. You say you do internet marketing and leave it at that.

There are a few money issues, but nothing major. such as the 10k rule, if you deposit over 10k cash they gotta ask where you got it and they log it. Same thing with withdrawals, and most banks will ask you to call ahead and 'reserve' your money if over 5k or 10k withdrawal to insure they have it onhand.

As for the link spamming, it really depends on what you are doing. However, the can-spam act is the only real spamming act, so if what you're doing doesn't fall under it AND it's not illegal in its own right, then you're fine. Like, if you were link spamming and the content on the link was illegal then you'd have an issue as well.

End result, if it's going to generate 10M/month then there are tons of ways to work to avoid issues

Good luck

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

[TheBHCat]

If there is, there's nothing I can do to legally use it...

If there is, and you're making 10m/month like you used in your example, you just move down here across the border where it's not going to land you in jail (as OldenStyleHats) pointed out.

10m/month would convince me to move nearly anywhere ;-).

 

[sand_wizard]

As for the link spamming, it really depends on what you are doing. However, the can-spam act is the only real spamming act, so if what you're doing doesn't fall under it AND it's not illegal in its own right, then you're fine. Like, if you were link spamming and the content on the link was illegal then you'd have an issue as well.

thank you. but would using xrumer and spamming for backlinks fall under this category of 'not illegal in its own right' ? or does this fall under the CAN-SPAM act?

 

[sand_wizard]

As for the link spamming, it really depends on what you are doing. However, the can-spam act is the only real spamming act, so if what you're doing doesn't fall under it AND it's not illegal in its own right, then you're fine. Like, if you were link spamming and the content on the link was illegal then you'd have an issue as well.

thank you. but would using xrumer and spamming for backlinks fall under this category of 'not illegal in its own right' ? or does this fall under the CAN-SPAM act?

 

[purebackend]

Xrumer may be annoying for admins, and definitely 'spam', however, there are no direct laws against it. Some could argue it's hacking since it breaks security methods, some could argue it's unsolicited bulk messages, although, let them argue. No cases I've heard of that have precedent for legal action because of it, and doubt you'd be the one that would cause precedent

Although, it is common for some admins to complain to your ISP or hosting provider, so you might lose some accounts or have to host elsewhere in the end. But as for being locked up, I doubt it. If your 10mill/month isn't just a random figure, then I'd consult a great lawyer and set up everything so even if it was deemed illegal you'd be covered

weeeeeeeeeeeee

 

[Remington]

The law, which became effective January 1, 2004, covers email whose primary purpose is advertising or promoting a commercial product or service, including content on a Web site.

Link spam away!

Instead of wondering, check out the actual law.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/ecommerce/bus61.shtm

Of course, if you hack into sites to get your links onto 'em, or something like that, there are other laws waiting to bite you. But xrumer? Regular link spam? Whitehats WISH it was illegal, but they're just dreaming on

 

[Timbo]

I have never heard of anyone being sued, fined, charged etc for leaving links. If you are creating a free profile then leaving a link in the spaced offer to you to leave your link then you are doing nothing wrong. If it was Angela would be in jail.

 

[sand_wizard]

Thanks for your advices. I wish there were more references and facts supporting that link spamming isn't illegal, but logically speaking you guys are right. If anyone has more references on this issue, please feel free to post. Thank you.

 

[purebackend]

Well that's the thing.. A lot of the newer stuff isn't illegal because it takes time to put laws in place and its very hard to legislate the internet. Hence why BH is so popular

So you won't really find 'proof' that it's not illegal. Best bet is if you have doubts, consult a lawyer thats specialized and go from there. And when things are going well, protect yourself by legal layers in case laws ever get passed.