Time for a new reply-me plugin?

I’ve been doing some updates to CommentLuv Premium recently and the beta testers have asked me about integrating the Reply-Me plugin in to the stack because the author of the original plugin has not updated it in a long time and they are looking for a new parent.

What is Reply-Me?

Reply-Me is a simple plugin that sends an email to a commenter when they get a reply.

That’s it.

Is is CAN-Spam compliant?

Kim Castleberry over at Just Ask Kim blog did a bit of research to look in to the legality of sending comment reply emails to people that initiated contact with you on your blog.

She says,

 I personally believe if you come to my house and talk to me, I reserve the right to talk to you via any information you leave, until you tell me to go away.

All replies or just admin?

Personally,

I agree with Kim. If you come to my house and speak to me then that is an implicit permission for me to speak back to you. Provided, of course, that my response is relevant to your comment.

I can’t just go and send you a ton of shit about buying shiny pink nuffles. (unless the post is about shiny pink nuffles!)

Those automated spammers though, that is where it would enter the gray area of comment reply spam.

Luckily, if you’re using commentluv premium then you’ve got built in anti-spam but there are still some determined spammers who will try to reply to everyone who commented on a post with their pink nuffle promotions.

Now, if some nasty spammer who had managed to get through your moderation previously decides to reply to every comment  then a lot of unwanted emails could go out.

That’s why I think the plugin should be set to admin replies only.

I’d also have to add a way for the user to unsubscribe from further emails and for admin to edit all the details for the actual email content.

What do you think?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

How would you like a new reply-me plugin to work?