Since last night I have received multiple copies of an e-mail from Computicket to each of my e-mail accounts, suggesting that I should be wildly excited that the stage production of The Lion King is coming to South Africa, and that I should rush to book my tickets. There are several annoying things about this.
- I have no interest in this show.
- It is being presented in a theatre roughly 1,800km from where I am.
- I have never asked Computicket to include me in any mailing lists.
- I am receiving the message through several e-mail accounts that I have never given to Computicket.
- The e-mails display no indication of how I can unsubscribe from further notifications, something I understood to be a requirement under South African law.
If this show is as popular internationally as they suggest I see no need for this spam campaign. I’m sure they could fill all the seats by sticking to conventional advertising methods.
craniac's place 
According to the ECT Act there are a few things you can do.
http://www.internet.org.za/spam_message.txt
Send them this
On [insert date here], I received the following message from you:
| Blah, blah, blah
Since this is a commercial message, and since I have not requested to
be placed on your mailing list, this message constitutes an unsolicited
communication in terms of section 45 of the Electronic Communications
and Transactions Act (Act 25 of 2002).
In terms of section 45(4) of this Act, this message serves as
notification that I do not wish to receive any further communications
from you. Failure to comply with this request constitutes a criminal
offense in terms of the ECT Act.
Additionally, I hereby request that you immediately disclose where you
obtained my contact details, as per section 45(1) of the ECT Act.
Failure to respond to this request also constitutes a criminal offense.
[Optional paragraph:
I note that your original message did not provide me with an option to cancel my subscription to your mailing list, as required by section 45(1) of the Act. This means that you may already have committed an offense in terms of section 45(3) of the Act, and may be subject to prosecution.
]
Should you wish to familiarise yourself with the relevant legislation, or check my facts, a copy of the ECT Act is available on-line via the Government’s web site: http://www.gov.za/gazette/acts/2002/a25-02.pdf.
Your co-operation in this matter will be appreciated,