I can't tell if this is spam or not…

At Microsoft, we are committed to continually improving our software to make it easier to use by customers like you. One area we would like to improve is the ability to create and work with graphics across Microsoft Office. Achieving that goal requires that we frequently get feedback from our customers.
We are building a panel consisting of graphics-savvy professionals in various occupations to better understand the tools you use to do your job. Members of this panel will have repeated opportunities to take part in Microsoft research surveys and have a direct impact on development of future tools. Typically, we will send you six to twelve surveys over the next year. In appreciation of your time, at the completion of each survey, you'll be entered in a sweepstakes to win cash awards.
If you are interested in participating in this panel, please click on the link below to see if you qualify and join today! For participating in our six-minute survey, you will receive one entry in a sweepstakes for a chance to win one of six cash prizes including a Grand Prize of $500 and five additional prizes of $100 each.

The message was sent to an “evrydayoffrs.com” email address, on behalf of Microsoft Office Graphics Team [newsletter@amazgofrs.com]. It also contains within it a “microsoft.com” email address. I never signed up for third-party offers from anybody – Microsoft included. So, my question is… why is Microsoft possibly buying / renting email lists when they could have asked me (or us) for feedback directly? Damn the sweepstakes. This is a marketing tactic from 1998, not 2005. If this is how they're getting feedback on the next version of Office, I don't want to have anything to do with it.