RE: midrangenews.net

This is a response to the discussion thread "RE: midrangenews.net"

It has been brought to my attention that my company is being discussed in this
thread and a lot of false assumptions are being made.

The issue of MidrangeNews.net and its e-newsletter came to my attention on the
morning of 8/9 when I received a complaint e-mail from a recipient of the spam.
Later that day I received a call from Bill Rice at iTera, who I know from
business, mentioning that their ad was included in the spam.

For the record, Stellar Debris has *absolutely nothing* to do with
MidrangeNews.net, nor this newsletter. In fact, we are moving to take legal
action against MidrangeNews.net for illegal use of our property and
misrepresentation.

The reality of this situation is far simpler than the theories presented in this
thread. Clearly California Software must have decided to start this newsletter
and went to register midrangenews.com. When they found that it was not
available they registered midrangenews.net. But when they send out their
newsletter, they are placing the .com domain in the From field, most likely
because they know they are spamming people. That's it. That is the only
association to Stellar Debris. They are placing a domain that we own in the
>From field.

To correct a few other statements made by others in this thread, Stellar Debris
does not spam -- in fact we don't even send out e-newsletters, updates, or
anything of the sort to anyone. Stellar Debris is a design agency, not a web
marketing company. The majority of our work is done in print. When we do
produce work for the web, we are an ethical company concerned with the privacy
of users.

Yes, we have done work for MC Press. This was contracted design work between MC
Press and our agency to produce a visual template for their communications. MC
Press is a standup organization and they do not intentionally send
communications to those who do not wish to be contacted. Stellar Debris has
absolutely nothing to do with the operations of MC Press and does not prepare
content or send communication for them.

Also mentioned was "The Houston Record." Yes, "The Houston Record" was a
marketing tool for Bytware, but there was nothing deceptive involved in that
campaign. Not a single piece of e-mail was ever sent out promoting that website
save a mention in Bytware's own newsletter sent only to customers. Users only
went to that site of their own accord after finding a link to it through
legitimate channels. And "The Houston Record" was primarily an online mystery
game and a vehicle for creative writing with a clear differentiation between
creative writing and true news articles.

It is very easy to make assumptions but it is also destructive to slander a
company when you know little about the situation. I respectfully ask that you
stop spreading accusation of Stellar Debris as being a spammer, employing
unethical marketing methods, or having any association with California Software
or MidrangeNews.net. None of these are true, and as I said we will be pursuing
our own legal action against MidrangeNews.net. We have been an unwitting victim
of the unethical MidrangeNews.net campaign.

Sincerely,

Christopher Jones
Principal + Creative Director
Stellar Debris, Inc.