Email Law: New CAN-SPAM FAQ for Internet Marketers
What is CAN-SPAM?
The name CAN-SPAM is an acronym from the original bill’s full name: Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003. Its purpose was to set the first national standards for sending commercial e-mail, and to limit the bulk sending of unsolicited email. The law requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce its provisions.
What email messages are subject to CAN-SPAM?
The law applies to commercial electronic mail messages with the primary purpose of advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service.
What email messages are exempt from CAN-SPAM?
Non-commercial messages, such as those with religious, political, or governmental purposes, are exempt. Further, commercial emails which are not promotional, such as tranactional messages, are exempt. Subject line and above-the-fold content is often used to determine the nature of a message, so transactional emails may contain a portion of promotional content and still be exempt from the law.
Does CAN-SPAM prohibit sending unsolicited emails?
No, it regulates this practice by requiring three type of compliance:
- Unsubscribe – Subscribers must be able to exit lists.
o All emails have an effective unsubscribe mechanism.
o Unsubscribe requests are honored within 10 days.
o Lists of those who opt out are only kept for compliance purposes. - Content – Messages must be accurately described and attributed.
o From lines are accurate.
o Subject lines are non-deceptive and are descriptive of message content.
o The physical address of the publisher or advertiser is included.
o Adult content is labeled. - Sending Methods – publishers must not use spam tactics.
o Messages can not be sent through open relays.
o They can not be sent to harvested email addresses.
o Messages can not contain a false headers.
Senator John McCain added a last-minute amendment to allow the FTC to enforce remedies on businesses promoted in spam when the FTC is able to identify the specific spammer who initiated the e-mail. This discourages the engagement of surrogates to spm on a company’s behalf.