[updated, see below]

After receiving unsolicited commercial email that SpamCop ID as coming through Salesforce.com, we reported it to Salesforce.  The email used is one that is only available on a web site with the word “spam” in it and is only used on one web site.

Their response shows they are okay with spamming:

Hi …,

Salesforce customers are allowed to use the Salesforce platform to send advertising. The email has provided opt-out instructions, thus is not violating our TOS. Please try the opt-out instructions. If you continue to receive email, please let us know and we will action it.

Regards,

Naresh Madhavan
Security Incident Handler
Salesforce CSIRT

[Update:] After asking for clarification, a second person at security@salesforce.com replied:

Hi …,

No this is not acceptable. We will let the customer know that the email you have received is unsolicited and that you wish to be removed from their distribution list.

 

We are curious as to which is the accurate policy, and will be monitoring for UCE sent from Salesforce.com going forward.