Understanding email spam laws
Posted in Information on June 26, 2008
If you’re involved in marketing, you are hopefully very much aware of the CAN-SPAM law.
ExactTarget has released a helpful whitepaper (pdf) to familiarize marketers with updated clauses to the CAN-SPAM Act, which go into effect July 7, 2008. It includes best practices and pitfalls to avoid to ensure compliance with the law.
The CAN-SPAM Act applies to commercial email and requires the following:
- That all email contains a clear, valid, opt-out mechanism. The opt-out cannot demand a password, or any other email beyond the person’s email, to unsubscribe.
- Opt-outs must be honored within 30 days.
- Unsolicited emails must be clearly marked as advertisements.
- Sexually-oriented messages must be labeled with “SEXUALLY-EXPLICIT” in the subject line.
- No false, deceptive, or misleading email transmission information or subjects.
