The worst thing you can imagine happened to me last week. I went to my website to check it out and it was gone. I mean gone. As in wiped off the Internet. All 100 pages of it, or however many there are.

There was one of those white screens there like “under construction,” but I don’t remember what was written there because I was in shock. My website is my livelihood – isn’t yours? And it was obliterated.

A few minutes later I got an e-mail from my server. Down through the verbiage I read, panicking. An accusation that I had spammed someone who’s e-mail address was given. In fact they reproduced the e-mail she had sent them.

An hour later I had it straightened out, and a couple of hours later my website was up and functioning, and here’s what had happened.

Like you, probably, I write many articles for distribution on the Internet. I’m therefore included in the eZines (and websites) of many, many people out there. Sometimes I’m even the lead article. This person had been “s*amm*d” by someone’s eZine for which I was the lead article, and she grabbed MY URL and MY e-mail address and set about getting restitution.

Now when I format the articles I write for submission to lists, I put at the top that my article may be used “if the byline stays intact … and it is not used for s*a*mmi*g. I hope this will raise awareness that when a website or eZine owner uses one of our articles, they’re obligated not to *pam.

Yes, it really happens – your server can remove your website – and yes, you don’t want that to happen.

To stay caught up on the new federal s**m legislation, go http://ezezine.com/resources/avoidjunkfilter.html.

A>Here is an article by Lisa Micklin called, “How to Avoid the Automatic ‘Junk Filter’”, and the URLs of what Microsoft Junk Mail Filter, Spa*-Assassin and McAfee’s S*am-Killer are searching for. Read them. You’ll be amazed, but you need to know this.

For instance, Microsoft’s Junk Mail Filter will take you down for having in your subject line: “advertisement,” “!” AND “$”, or “!” and “free.”

If you have these in the body, you’re toast: “Dear Friend,” “for free” or “for free?” or “removal instructions,” “@mlm,” or “order now!”

And if From contains: “success,” success@ or mail@.

To keep up on the federal anti-spamming law, go http://www.spamlaws.com/federal/108s877.html.

And finally, here’s a good URL http://www.networkadvertising.org/espc/pledge.asp to know. It’s the “Email Marketing Pledge.” Take it yourself and pass it on!