My Friday morning chuckle...

As a consequence of setting up an MSN Messenger IM account for work, I now have my very first Hotmail account. Not that I really wanted one. I don't use a Microsoft email program (necessary for POP3 access) and I simply don't like webmail (I prefer to read email from all my accounts in one place).

Anyway, this morning when I logged into MSN Messenger with Trillian, I received a notification that I had new mail. When I checked my inbox, however, it turned out to be just a periodic Hotmail "Member Communication" (i.e., spam) filled with information I hadn't asked for and didn't want.

As I always do when I receive self-promotion emails from an otherwise reputable source, I checked the bottom of the message for the obligatory unsubscribe link (or to use the parlance of many companies, the "Change Your Marketing Preferences" link). The fine print began with standard enough language:

As a Hotmail member, you have received this e-mail to inform you of updates, changes to the Hotmail service, or special news and information from MSN. Our policy is to send e-mail messages only to announce such information, and we’ll continue to honor this policy.

The next sentence, however, may be the best example I have ever seen of a company telling its users/patrons/customers to go fly a kite:

Free Hotmail users: If you do not wish to receive Hotmail member letters, you may close your Hotmail account.

Should libraries adopt similar attitudes? Should we begin sending our patrons unsolicited email updates? And when they complain, should we then offer them a single option -- canceling their library cards?