The CAN SPAM law went into effect January 1, 2004. Here’s a quick rundown of the law’s main provisions to keep in mind while sending out your email marketing campaigns.  While I’m not a lawyer, obviously, the following recommendations should keep you clear of the 100 known SPAM operators list.

• Header information must be correct and legitimate. Your email’s “from” and “to” lines must be accurate, including the originating domain name, and identify the person who initiated the email.
• The subject line cannot mislead your email recipients about the content within the email.
• Your email recipients must have an opt-out method and it must be clear, easy to follow, and it must work to end any commercial messages.
• The opt-out option must be available to recipients for at least 30 days after they receive your commercial email.
• Opt-out requests must be handled within 10 business days.
• It’s illegal for you to sell or share opt-out email addresses.
• If your list is not double-opt in, your email must be identified as an advertisement and include a valid bricks-and-mortar postal address.
• Don’t harvest emails and don’t use automated means to create email addresses.
• If you share an email address with a third party, you must give the recipient “clear and conspicuous notice at the time the consent was communicated”.

The law also distinguished commercial emails from transactional emails, if the purpose of the email is to “facilitate, complete, or confirm”. Earlier this year, in May, the Federal Trade Commission updated the law. Here are their four new provisions, cut and pasted directly from the FTC Web site:

1. an e-mail recipient cannot be required to pay a fee, provide information other than his or her e-mail address and opt-out preferences, or take any steps other than sending a reply e-mail message or visiting a single Internet Web page to opt out of receiving future e-mail from a sender;
2. the definition of “sender” was modified to make it easier to determine which of multiple parties advertising in a single e-mail message is responsible for complying with the Act’s opt-out requirements;
3. a “sender” of commercial e-mail can include an accurately-registered post office box or private mailbox established under United States Postal Service regulations to satisfy the Act’s requirement that a commercial e-mail display a “valid physical postal address”;
4. and a definition of the term “person” was added to clarify that CAN-SPAM’s obligations are not limited to natural persons.

Keep in mind, CAN SPAM law is intended for the U.S., so email in other countries would be governed differently. The European Union, for instance, has a set of standards, but the actual laws are different throughout Europe.  In Canada, the privacy legislation is PIPEDA.  However, keeping to a set of best practices is not only good etiquette and respectful of our prospects and customers but it will allow you to easily meet and exceed any standard out there. 

If you’re just starting out with email campaigns, adhering to legal standards might seem overwhelming.  And, of course, there’s no substitute for consulting  your legal team.  But, for many simple email campaigns, just using the features of inTouch Broadcast will allow you to ensure adherence to CAN-SPAM and other email standards around the world.