How to Abide by Spam Laws When Sending Mass Emails

Spam emails are unsolicited messages from businesses and individuals sent out to a mass audience for a variety of reasons. Spam emails often get confused with mass emails, which are sent by legitimate businesses to advertise their products or sales to people who have provided their email addresses. A Web site owner or businessperson needs to understand how to abide by spam laws when sending mass emails to prevent legal problems.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Consider the problem of spamming and mass emails from the recipient's perspective. The Federal Trade Commission's OnGuard program provides information to consumers on protecting themselves from email scams (see Resources below). A business can abide by federal laws better by understanding the concerns of their customers through OnGuard.
2. Create truthful and accurate subject lines in your mass emails. Companies that do not abide by the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 utilize deceptive or misleading subjects in order to draw in unsuspecting readers. A good way to approach creating subject lines is to use a short sentence from the text of the email.
3. Allow email recipients to access your business contact information. This information should include your postal address, return email and a phone number to ensure a transparent process. Spam laws at the state and federal level require companies sending mass emails to include a current postal address to keep them accountable.
4. Label your email as an advertisement when sending it to a large group. This is a provision of federal law to ensure that email recipients understand the nature of the mass email. Many spam emails fail to distinguish between regular text and advertisements, which can cause recipients to make poor decisions or fall for scams.
5. Provide an option for email recipients to discontinue receiving messages from your company. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, which dictates spam email policing at the federal level, requires an opt-out provision with every mass email. This option not only fulfills a legal requirement but ensures good customer service.

Tips & Warnings

• Take spamming seriously. Federal law dictates that anyone violating anti-spamming laws can receive a fine of up to $11,000 per offense. Additional levies may be given for violations of state law, depending on the state you live in.