What Is the Federal Anti Spam Law?
The Federal Trade Commission passed a anti-spam law that introduced guidelines to commercial messages in email communications and provides penalties to those that violate these guidelines. This applies to unsolicited communications as well as a company's existing customers. The law is referred to as the CAN SPAM law.
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Definition of SPAM
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SPAM is the word used for unsolicited email or email that is considered an advertisement for a company we have had transactions with in the past. The introduction of SPAM as an annoying instance dates back to 1978 on what was then called the ARPANET. It is the equivalent of electronic junk mail.
Email Messaging Guidelines
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The law prohibits false header information, such as who the email is from or where the communication originated from. The use of a deceptive subject line is also prohibited. You must also state if your email is an advertisement. One other requirement to the law is providing your physical address or post office box that is registered on the email communication.
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Opt-out Options
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You must provide clear instructions on how you can opt out of getting email in the future and the send must honor the individual's right to request that you stop sending them communications within a 10-day period. You are not allowed to request any charges for removing the user from your mailing list or make it difficult for the user to request removal, such as making them visit multiple sites. You also may not ask for any identifying information beyond their email address when they opt-out of the email. Once someone has requested to be removed from a list that person's name cannot be transferred or sold to another company.
Legal Responsibilities
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Ignorance to the law is no excuse and neither is contracting your legal responsibility to another company. You must monitor what other companies are communicating on your behalf if you hire them to market for you electronically. The company advertising and the company doing the advertising will be responsible.
Penalties
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Each separate email violation of the CAN SPAM law is subject to penalties of up to $16,000. In addition to penalties arising from the CAN SPAM law, any other violations of the law in an email, such as deceptive advertising, can be pursued the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). A complaint can be filed online or through the FTC toll free number.
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References
- Photo Credit stop spam! image by Photosani from Fotolia.com
