The only part that has made your issue stand out somewhat more than others is due to the fact that some of the parties complaining have gone outside of the regular reporting chains to other members of CenturyTel, such as management and VP levels in other segments of the business. As a result I've had to answer to those parties as well to ensure the issue is being addressed, which I can assure them it is.
Chester Anders, CenturyTel Abuse Investigations
Note: For many months I have been under attack by the leadership of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party because I have vigorously spoken out on issues of importance to people living in northern Minnesota, and working class Minnesotans generally.
These so-called "leaders" of the MN DFL have refused to initiate any campaigns in opposition to this dirty war in Iraq; for single-payer, universal health care; for a minimum wage that is a real living wage based upon the calculations of the United States Department of Labor; for the repeal of at will hiring, at will firing--- the primary impediment to union organizing in Minnesota according to all union organizers from all unions; for an end to predatory lending which has placed hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans on the verge of homelessness; in support of more than 20,000 Minnesotans now working in smoke-filled casinos without any rights employed at poverty wages under the most Draconian working conditions without any rights under state, federal, or tribal labor laws; to save the Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant and more than 2,000 industrial manufacturing union jobs; to save the Big Bog from peat mining and to protect our primary freshwater aquifers from United States Steel's MinnTac mining and taconite operation... these so-called "leaders" are squandering the financial and human resources of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party on an unrelenting campaign aimed at silencing me instead of performing the tasks for which they have been elected as the correspondence below demonstrates.
Malendez, Rego, and O'Leary can point to some success in their campaign of hate which demonstrates a complete disrespect for democracy.
Here are their "successes" to date:
1.) Melendez, Rego, and O'Leary did arbitrarily deny me the right to participate on the list serve of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party State Central Committee
2.) Melendez, Rego, and O'Leary found a willing ally in Yahoo, Inc. which shut down my Yahoo e-mail on the basis of their complaints: red_finn_minnesota_progressive@yahoo.com
3.) They have been partially successful in keeping me wasting my time responding to the letters from CenturyTel Abuse... they have gone so far, as this letter from CenturyTel Abuse demonstrates, as making their complaints to CenturyTel corporate management. (Again, it is interesting to note that Melendez, Rego, and O'Leary seek out corporate managements as their allies in their campaign of hate and harassment.)
Melendez, Rego, and O'Leary are well aware that spam regulations do not apply to political e-mails such as I distribute in the same manner Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin began the democratic, time-honored tradition of Americans being free to express their views on the issues of the day no matter how controversial these views on issues may be. These democratic and time-honored traditions are enshrined and protected in the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights along with the Minnesota Constitution.
The use of the internet to e-mail and blog is the modern day equivalent of leafleting and pamphleteering and Melendez, Rego, and O'Leary have decided to trample upon our democratic rights--- make no mistake, "our" is the key word--- because the First Amendment assures and guarantees the rights of people to freely communicate in a way that enables them to arrive a common understanding of what it will take to solve social and economic problems.
Malendez, Rego, and O'Leary have through their campaign of hate and harassment set the stage for a very costly legal battle in the courts because they have set out, with a knowing and malicious intent to organize a vicious campaign of hate and harassment with the intent to deny very basic and well established democratic principles upon which our Nation and our State was founded...
The consequences for this triumvirate of Melendez, Rego, and O'Leary to go goose-stepping backwards in the footprints of Harold Stassen, Joe McCarthy, and Hubert Humphrey who drafted the most undemocratic piece of legislation in the annals of human history--- The Communist Control Act, as they trample upon, and stomp on, the United States Constitution with the intended purpose of silencing anyone who raises their voice with solutions to our many pressing problems which I have only touched upon above; these consequences are dire as their intended target is as much any Minnesotan who dares to raise their voice in opposition to the big-business agenda being pushed upon us by not only the reactionary, right-wing Republicans, but the business and financial interests of the Summit Hill crowd, the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce, the DFL Business Caucus, big agri-business, the mining, industrial, health care, banking/financial, and the all important communications industry.
Melendez, Rego, and O'Leary are doing the bidding of the well-heeled and financially powerful in trying to silence me.
Provide Care, Incorporated tried a similar strategy when I defended a woman employed by the company against the false charge of a "medication error;" she won, they failed. I would only note, that it was this same bunch in the Minnesota DFL who went to bat for Provide Care, Incorporated who hired a health care lobbyist who works closely with this present leadership of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party. This registered lobbyist has been helping to coordinate this campaign of hate and harassment for Melendez, Rego, and O'Leary; and, together with the outfit hired by the Minnesota casino managements to try to thwart our union organizing efforts--- USIS working in conjunction with the United States Department of Justice and the FBI; they have all set out to silence me--- without success.
As a matter of fact, as much as I despise this trampling upon our democratic rights, I welcome the opportunity they have provided me in offering up one more chance to bring forward the problems in the MN DFL and in our society.
Unfortunately for this bunch, their undemocratic tactics and strategy can not succeed because the Internet simply allows me to get another Internet Service Provider and a different e-mail address; in fact, I can go to any public library or a myriad of other venues, laptop computer in hand, offering free wireless internet service.
Furthermore, I only use the internet in conjunction with traveling around Minnesota and meeting with people face-to-face in their homes, at gas stations and in public parks, at rallies, demonstrations, meetings, on picket lines, and at their places of employment. I am especially fond of the meetings with Minnesotans sitting around kitchen tables where explaining all of this is much easier for me than having to write.
But, writing does have its clear advantages, also :)
Certainly Melendez, Rego, and O'Leary are well aware that I was hired to take on this campaign to organize Minnesota's casinos because I can not be intimidated or scared into silence and because of my unique talents and my organizational ability.
Which begs the question: If this campaign they are waging is not going to silence me, than who are they intending to silence?
The answer is obvious: YOU.
Do you really want your resources and financial contributions to be wasted in this manner?
I would suggest that you talk with Floyd Jourdain the head of Red Lake Gaming Enterprises; Warroad's FORMER Chief of Police Lawrence Wright, Melanie Benjamin; or the CEO of United States Information Services whose company is gaining the reputation of being the laughing-stock of the union busting industry after having to deal with me.
I received this e-mail from CenturyTel Abuse Investigations:
Alan,
Can you please verify the source of this email address: dan@danmcc.com
He has written in stating that he and other parties have continued to receive "harassing" emails from you after asking that you refrain from sending those. Just trying to determine the validity of this claim. Have you received any requests to stop sending to the email address given above?
Please let us know what you can.
Thanks for your time and attention once again,
Chester Anders
CenturyTel Abuse Investigations
Abuse@centurytel.net
Chester.Anders@centurytel.com
This e-mail was sent to CenturyTel Abuse Investigations and the Minnesota Attorney General in response to the above e-mail which is an example of the present vicious campaign of harassment and hate initiated by MN DFL Chair Brian Melendez, Secretary Susan Rego, and Executive Director Andrew O'Leary:
This guy's name is on the Minnesota DFL State Central Committee list that has been circulated by the Secretary of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party... his name, and e-mail address, is all over the internet on blogs and websites.
I am the target of a campaign of hate and harassment because I am part of a caucus, the Democracy Caucus, which is challenging these people (Melendez, Rego, and O'Leary) for their positions.
Further, this specific guy first sent me an e-mail telling me to "take me off your list." I sent him an e-mail asking which "list" he was referring to... I have numerous e-mail lists that I maintain by category of some 23,000 e-mail addresses... some people request to be on my list, others I put on my list because they are members of organizations I am a member of or are working on a topic I also have concerns about.
I explained to him that Brian Melendez, who initiated this campaign of hate and harassment against me using this "tactic" of complaining about my "spamming," had caused a serious disruption in my e-mailing.
I further explained all of this to him in my final e-mail to him (in fact this specific individual has not received a single mailing from me from this "list" after he made the initial request he not receive any further mass mailings from me.)
Now, this guy is a highly involved political person that sought out a highly political position knowing that controversy swirls throughout our political world.
Further, I would note... the information contained in my e-mails is not "spam." There is nothing illegal; nor even anything by political standards which would be considered inappropriate.
I would call to your attention the difference, by law and federal statute, between "spam" and political e-mails and expect your Department of Abuse Investigations to take note of this because this delineation on the part of the United States Congress and regulatory agencies have an intended purpose; that purpose being to protect of long established and cherished traditions enshrined in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights which was included as an important part of the United States Constitution for a very good reason: to protect just what I am doing with my e-mailing and blogging.
In fact, if I was sending out e-mails containing information these people agree with you would not be hearing from them.
Any one with an ounce of common sense can understand that what you are receiving accusing me of "spamming" is part of a very vicious and malicious campaign of harassment which has now risen to the level of a hate crime.
I can assure you that each and everyone of those persons who has complained receives, probably dozens, of unsolicited e-mails daily as a result of their voluntarily seeking out, and running for, a position on the MN DFL Party state central committee.
Again, I state, once someone tells me that they do not want to receive e-mails from me I no longer send them e-mails.
I can forward you numerous e-mails I receive telling me to keep the e-mails coming to them.
Did I say anything personally offensive to this person who is complaining? No. Did I insult him? No.
I would further note... that this campaign of harassment directed at me that involves these people contacting you complaining of my "spamming" was initiated by Brian Melendez, the current Chair of the Minnesota DFL Party (Democratic Party in Minnesota). I would further note, that Mr. Melendez, while initiating this dirty little campaign of harassment against me has instructed his underlings who he either hired or are his political associates and supporters to complain... he himself has never requested of me to delete his e-mail address from my mailings. As a courtesy, I send him what I have to say about him and his policies... of which dirty little campaigns such as this are a part.
I would also note that Mr. Melendez does not enjoy anything that could be considered, even remotely, as unanimous support as Chair of the MN DFL.
I would further inform you that I consider that if CenturyTel can not distinguish between a legitimate complaint/s and an organized campaign of harassment... all coming from the same little grouping than something is wrong with your own judgment.
Might I remind you that I, not they, am paying the bill--- a very high price at that for your services which leave much to be desired. I would also remind you that your company has made no attempt to prevent the real spammers from sending me everything from the dirtiest and nastiest porno crap and get rich quick investment schemes to all kinds of advertisements from all kinds of politicians and even dating services... none of which I request.
If your company does not appreciate my business, please let me know; there is a plethora of other ISP's around, many now much cheaper than yours. I live two blocks from the public library where wireless access is free.
Let me tell you something Mr. Chester Anders... I did not seek out your company to be my Internet Service Provider... your company called me repeatedly trying to get my business, I mean repeatedly. Then you sent me advertisement after advertisement in the mail. I never requested any of this.
Please Mr. Chester "Abuse Investigator" Anders... see to it that your company never calls me nor mails me, nor e-mails me any other sales promotion... not along with my already high bills I receive from you.
You now, Mr. Chester "Abuse Investigator" Anders, your company was billing me, and come to find out, thousands of other people, for using long distance services for calls we never made. Please feel free to check your records. It took me months and many hours on the phone to get this matter resolved.
Mr. Chester "Abuse Investigator" Anders, your company does not come into this discussion with such clean and open hands when it comes to sending out unsolicited advertisements. You sought my business, now you try to intimidate me from using the service I pay for.
On the Fourth of July you disrupted my e-mail communications. Check out your records. Your company makes up rules and policies as you go. Why didn't you send me all your little rules and policies prior to me signing up and paying you big money for your services? Had you been upfront about all the technical problems you have I never would have signed up with your company.
You have never received complaints about me before. This should light up something upstairs as a signal to you what is going on.
This individual can state all he wants about speaking for other parties... but, he has not provided me with any other list of those he alludes to... and, I assume he has not provided you with any other names or you are remiss in not passing them on to me.
To date, I think I have received maybe six other e-mail addresses from you of a similar nature... if you have more, pass them ALL on to me so I can get their names off of my list/s.
I would think that you would have the common sense to ask this guy why he has allowed his e-mail address to be placed on such a highly politicized list in the first place.
I point out to you, that by virtue of my election from a county Convention of the Roseau County Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party I have this "list" as part of my mandate to represent Roseau County, Minnesota Democrats in bringing forward resolutions they passed which they expect me to advocate for.
If you examine any and all of the e-mails I have sent out, each and every one of these e-mails relate to resolutions that our County Convention passed (and, I would point out they all passed unanimously in the best ever attended county convention due in no small part to my involvement... these people who are now trying to silence me, at the time I was elected try to bring pressure on the convention delegates not to elect me... in spite of their very best efforts Roseau County delegates elected me to represent them on the State Central Committee because they are confident that I will articulate their position and bring forward the issues of concern to them... what can I say... this small group of narrow minded people, unable to carry on a dialogue or engage in civil debate, let alone defend their own positions, have made a conscious decision to harass me in this way.
Again, I state, if anyone wants off of this list, all they have to do is ask me.
When someone sends an e-mail stating: take me off your list... I always respond by asking, "What list?" Sometimes I ask why.
For the record, let it show that this particular gentleman was taken off the list as soon as he clarified what list it was that he was on. I am not going to go through thousands of names on a myriad of lists to find one name.
My recommendation to you, if you are so concerned about this, is that you contact Brian Melendez to provide you with authorization from each individual of his little group who wants off of this list and I will take them off immediately. I can't read minds.
Furthermore, I would suggest that you instruct Mr. Melendez to go through the proper procedures of the MN DFL by-laws governing how this list is maintained and distributed. And, it is Mr. Melendez and Secretary Susan Rego who have created this list and made it available... in fact, the list is of their creation and one to which I am entitled... in fact, this very list with all these names and e-mail addresses is posted all over the internet... in list serve data banks, on web sites, on blogs, etc.
Who puts their name and contact info on such a widely distributed list than complains they get e-mail?
Which brings me to another question, why would this list be compiled and then distributed if it is something I am not supposed to have?
You have my permission to make this communication available to Mr. Melendez and this gentleman who wrote.
Again, please request the list of names he alludes to and pass them on to me.
I am also sending a copy of this letter to the attention of the Minnesota Attorney General because, in my opinion, this little campaign of harassment these highly politicized people are indulging in rises to a level of a hate crime.
As you will note... I sign my name, address, and phone number to everything I send out by e-mail or U.S. mail.
I would further note, regarding politics, e-mail is much like distributing leaflets. Like anyone can take or refuse a leaflet... anyone can simply hit the delete key; or use any number of blocking or filtering programs which would eliminate this problem completely. Instead, they have tried to play this little game making mischief and grief for me.
In fact, Mr. Melendez is in charge of an e-mailing apparatus many times larger than my own as the Chair of a huge State Democratic Party organization. As such, he sends out tens of thousands of e-mails that have never been requested by the recipient... and operates a huge fund raising operation using phones... I have asked, repeatedly, that these fund raisers not call me (Meyers Tele Services), yet, on a weekly basis they call me even though I have repeatedly asked that my name be taken off their list. My name has never been taken off.
I will also have you know, that I have repeatedly contacted CenturyTel because my system continues to get hacked into through your equipment; to no avail.
You have yet to act on any of my very legitimate complaints of spam which I receive daily through your "services" such as they are... everything from prostitutes to penis enhancement and invitations to purchase drugs even though no doctor has prescribed any drugs for me.
Oh. By the way... I never requested the Minnesota Attorney General to send me her campaign material yet I received her campaign material distributed by former Vice-President of the United States, Walter Mondale... I repeatedly requested Mr. Mondale not send me these e-mails, yet, week after week they kept filling my inbox... then, there is the committee at present: Minnesotans for Hillary Clinton... I have been receiving e-mail after e-mail from them seeking everything from my endorsement to money... I don't have any use for Hillary Clinton, maybe you could contact her and ask her not to send me any more of her e-mails.
In closing, I am sure you understand what any other public official or elected official understands... e-mails come with the territory; come on, if this guy is so intolerant of the views of others and would rather stoop to this kind of harassment rather than write a response to what I write... maybe he shouldn't have campaigned for, and sought his position.
I am sure if you consult with your attorneys they will inform you that an elected member of a State Central Committee is in fact a public official of sorts... as such, people do have a right to e-mail them; especially when they plaster their e-mail addresses all over the internet. But, like I have stated, I won't ever e-mail him again, and I told him so... and why he complained even though he never received another mass e-mailing from me, I don't understand.
Here is the link to the DFL website... as you can see several of the e-mail addresses of these complainers are on here... does this appear to you they are seeking e-mail? It does to me.
http://www.dfl.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={B5178261-5426-49F4-87BC-678942ED92AA}
As you will note, the name of the Roseau County Chair is listed, you may call him to verify that I am the elected Roseau County member to the State Central Committee... you may also request a copy of all the resolutions we passed and you will see that all of my correspondence to this "list" directly relates to these resolutions. You will also note, if you care to read the by-laws of the MN DFL that as a member of the State Central Committee I have a certain fiduciary responsibility... and, much of my e-mailing entails this.
Oh, and I would just like to point out; two of the individuals who requested I discontinue e-mailing them wrote and asked that I start sending them the e-mails because they wanted to read what I wrote about them... I told them where to go.
Then, for the record... after one of those complained to you that I stop e-mailing... which I had already done... she turned around and has been continually e-mailing me real "spam." I sent you three such things she sent. And this has continued for days now. I have forwarded this crap to you and Mr. Melendez.
Yes, I received the request in question here... and, yes, once he clarified what list he was referring to... all e-mailing to this individual has ceased.
By the way, I have sent this e-mail out to many members of the State Central Committee who asked me to keep them informed of developments... as similar hate campaigns like this are now underway against four other people, in addition to me.
I would further point out to you that these kind of little campaigns of hate often take on the character of a snowball rolling down a hill on a warm spring day... it gets bigger and bigger and someone can end up getting hurt.
I want you and CenturyTel to understand that there are few things in life more abusive than a campaign of hate. If you do not understand what a hate campaign is, I would suggest that you contact Morris Dees at the Southern Poverty Law Center... the courts have awarded very stiff and high penalties for those who engage in campaigns of hate... both compensation and punitive damages. I assume the present owners of CenturyTel would not like to give up ownership of their corporation in compensation and punitive damages for participating in a hate crime. I also am guessing that CenturyTel has some understanding of the First Amendment Rights... freedom of speech, expression, association.
Let me be very clear Mr. Anders... for someone to suggest that they know of other individuals who want off of this "list" and then not provide those names is an act of intimidation aimed at restricting not only my free speech and expression... but who I may associate with.
Alan L. Maki
Member, Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party State Central Committee
and
Director of Organizing
Red Lake Casino, Hotel, and Restaurant Employees' Union Organizing Committee
58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763
Phone: 218-386-2432
Cell phone: 651-587-5541
E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net
Check out my blog:
Thoughts From Podunk
http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/
Final Comment: Melendez, Rego, and O'Leary never lifted a finger to bring the Minnesota DFL Legislative Caucus into line in order to save the Ford St. Paul Twin Cities Assembly Plant and over two-thousand good paying union jobs... just think what might be accomplished if the MN DFL had a leadership which had the ability to focus on this problem in the same manner that these three pathetic political hacks have wasted our Party's resources trying, unsuccessfully, to silence me.
Note: After the undemocratic shenanigans of this undemocratic triumvirate, if you have Yahoo e-mail you may not be able to receive my e-mails unless you add me to your list.
If you notice me e-mailing using a different Internet Service Provider you will know that Melendez, Rego, and O'Leary have been hard at work... for the Summit Hill crowd, the MN DFL Business Caucus, and the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce...
I will leave it to you to decide if their success story is also your own.
This is the response I received from CenturyTel Abuse Investigations:
Alan,
Please don't mistake a fact finding email for an attempt to bully you. We just wanted to gather what information you could provide on this before sending a response back to the individual complaining. A few simple answers would have been more than sufficient. We are your ISP. We are receiving complaints from outside parties regarding your mailings. As your ISP we are obligated to investigate these. We would be remiss in our duties if we didn't. Now we know you've explained your position before, the only reason we sent this particular email was because of the possibility of an actual violation that we might have needed to genuinely address. This is a situation in which there isn't a clear violation of any of the Terms of Service and it really boils down to more of an issue of the old, "He said, she said" argument. That's why we sent the email we did below. It's really very simple and you shouldn't read anything into it. We just needed to get more facts from you, specific ally relating to the source of the email address in question.
The party that was complaining seemed to think that you had gotten his name from a Yahoo list that he claims you were once a member of and had been kicked off of. I specifically omitted that, because I wanted to hear from you where the email address came from. Again, the reason for omitting this was because of the "He said, she said" nature of the report. We didn't know if there was any truth to the report or not so we decided to ask you without any suggestions in place that it might have come from some other source. Now we know where it came from, same source as the other email addresses. The only reason this may have been an issue is because using email addresses you received from a Yahoo list after you were no longer a member of the Yahoo list might have been questionable and a possible violation of their policy. It's something I would have had to have researched further to verify. Even if it had been the case though, I would have simply asked you to stop emailing those
addresses, not for the sake of "protecting" those users though. I would have asked because it might have given them a solid argument for suspension and/or termination of your account based on Section 8 of our Terms and Conditions, which states:
Any access to other networks, service providers, or services (i.e., eBay) through centurytel.net must comply with the rules appropriate for such other networks, service providers, or services. Non-compliance with such rules will result in the termination of your account without prior notification.
We definitely want to avoid providing them any excuses or options for making any such unreasonable requests. The rest of the Terms and Conditions are viewable here in case you are interested:
http://support.centurytel.net/index.cfm?action=centurytel.support.help_accept
I asked if he had requested to be removed from your list because if he hadn't and was complaining, I was going to send back an email to him strongly suggesting that he simply request removal. You've already assured me that you'll remove anyone from the list you use if they request as much. I've checked and there aren't any other complaints in the Abuse mailbox from any of the parties that we asked you to remove based on the emails we received, which were probably already removed for the most part. That just goes to further prove your point about honestly endeavoring to ensure none of those email addresses receive further emails from you.
My intent now is to email the party complaining and suggest that they advise the other parties who believe they are being "harassed" to simply email you and ask that you not send them anything. It's obvious you honor such requests. We'll also further advise that his email address is on the Minnesota DFL State Central Committee list and that is where you pulled his email address, not the Yahoo list. And finally, remind the user that the CAN-Spam Act makes allowances for the sending the of political emails. Those particular emails aren't bound by the constraints of the CAN-Spam Act.
Based on the emails that I've seen, it doesn't appear as though you are specifically harassing or targeting anyone. You are just trying to put forward certain political ideas that you happen to believe strongly in as they relate to local politics in your area. As long as you continue to perform the courtesy act of removing the email addresses of those who do not wish to receive your mailings, we don't see any particular problems with it. Our aim is to just keep complaints down to a minimum while allowing you to continue to send your mailings out, provided they don't actually violate any of the Terms and Conditions.
The only part that has made your issue stand out somewhat more than others is due to the fact that some of the parties complaining have gone outside of the regular reporting chains to other members of CenturyTel, such as management and VP levels in other segments of the business. As a result I've had to answer to those parties as well to ensure the issue is being addressed, which I can assure them it is.
Good luck in your endeavors,
Chester Anders
CenturyTel Abuse Investigations
Abuse@centurytel.net
This is the response which CenturyTel Abuse Investigations sent to a member of the MN DFL State Central Committee:
Alan,
Here is what we responded to the user in question with:
=================================
Dan,
Your email was forwarded to our group for investigation. Communications with Mr. Maki indicate that he has already removed you from his list. Of the reports we've received regarding Mr. Maki's emails, all followups indicate that he has removed anyone who has requested removal from the list he regularly sends to. Mr. Maki has further notified us that your information was retrieved from a Minnesota DFL State Central Committee list.
With that in mind, we would suggest that any other parties who do not wish to receive emails from Mr. Maki's list simply request that he remove them. We have been unable to identify the harassing nature of these emails based on submissions from any of the outside parties who have contacted us. This sounds like a simple issue of users receiving political correspondence they don't agree with. Mr. Maki does seem to engage in proper list management though.
We would also note that the CAN-Spam Act actually makes certain allowances for political emails, excluding them from the general provisions of the act.
Being unable to identify any harassment in the emails he is sending, any Terms and Conditions violations, and noting the legal nature of the emails based on the provisions of the CAN-Spam Act, we would again simply suggest requesting removal.
Thanks for your time and attention,
CenturyTel Abuse Investigations
Abuse@centurytel.net
