What's the Cure for E-mail Rage?

Stop the Madness ... Yep, it happened last week. Another new low in e-mail etiquette, another e-mail outrage. I couldn't believe it. Here's the story.   (The names have been withheld to protect the guilty.) In response to a PikeNet Dispatch, a Silicon Valley broker attached a 1 MB file PDF property flier to his bounceback message saying that he was out of the office.  Hello. Doesn't this person understand that a client would be totally bummed out receiving such a huge e-mail, especially if accessing the net over a slow dialup connection?  So as a public service, here are three rules for taming the e-mail monster:

Rule #1 ... NEVER attach a file to an "I'm-out-of-the-office" message.  Instead, include a link to the information at your web site.   And, in any event, NEVER attach a file over 200 KB unless specifically requested.  

Rule #2 ... NEVER e-mail market reports, property fliers or press releases without clear instructions on how a customer can remove his name.   And ONLY send e-mail to customers that have requested it. 

Rule #3 ... ALWAYS include your "signature" with complete contact information, including your physical address.   A "signature” is a footer that your e-mail program automatically inserts at the bottom of each outgoing e-mail. 

Sometimes I think that e-mail is totally out of control.  Hey, I just received three junk e-mails as I was writing this Dispatch!  But I believe that it's a fantastic tool for deepening personal business relationships.  So just use a little common sense.  I could go on with a zillion more rules.  But I'd rather hear from you.  How can we curb these e-mail maniacs?

--Peter / ppike@pikenet.com