Understanding the CAN-SPAM Act

A few days ago, a client of mine sent me an email that she had received from a previous customer, demanding that my client remove the recipient’s email address from her database, and to cease and desist from sending her “SPAM” emails. Obviously, my client was a little shaken – she had simply sent an email to her customer base informing them of some upcoming specials on her website, and did not think it was unsolicited at all. My client was correct.

It seems that there is still quite a bit of confusion surrounding the whole CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 that was signed into law by President George Bush. Even thought it contains the word ‘spam’ which is generally used to describe unsolicited emails, CAN-SPAM actually stands for “Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing.”

There are some differences to the law when it comes to cross-border emails. For example, in the US, you are not required to obtain permission before sending any marketing messages to an email recipient. In Canada, under The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), you must get the recipients prior consent, as well as outlining the purpose of obtaining the email. However, both laws have a very similar requirements when it comes to complying (as defined in the CAN-SPAM Act). These are unsubscribe, content and sending behaviour, and are further explained below.

Unsubscribe

· You must include a visible and specific manner in all emails for a recipient to unsubscribe from further email communication.
· If any recipient requests to opt-out, the request must be honoured within 10 days.
· If you maintain a list of recipients that have opted-out, they are to be used for compliance purposes only (ie: you cannot sell the list)

Content

· The “From” line must contain accurate information.
· The “Subject” lines must not be deceiving, and must be relative to any offers contained within the body of the message.
· The message must be identified as an advertisement, and a legitimate physical address of the publisher or the advertiser must be included in the message.
· If the content is adult in nature, a label stating this must be included.

Sending Behaviour

· Email messages must not be sent through an open relay (for example, sending an email to an open relay server with a “blind copy” list of recipients, to which the server then sends out the email)
· Email messages must not be sent to a harvested email address (email addresses that are “grabbed” from the Internet for the specific purpose of spamming)
· Email messages must not contain false or misleading header information (for example, if it includes an originating email address accessed through false or fraudulent pretenses)

For more information from Industry Canada on sending electronic messages within Canada, visit http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ecic-ceac.nsf/eng/h_gv00045.html

For information from the Federal Trade Commission on commercial email in the US, visit http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/spam/business.htm

The bottom line is, if you are honest and open about marketing a legitimate business, or service, and you are not harvesting email addresses, and you are providing a way for email recipients to stop getting email from you, then you are not spamming.

Some legal stuff … The information contained in this article was compiled from several information sources, and multiple websites, including government and private, and is solely intended for reference purposes. While we make every reasonable effort to ensure that the information provided is accurate, it is in no way meant to represent or replace professional legal advice from an attorney. RealAssist and its representatives cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions in the information provided, including any which may result in repercussive action due to misinterpretation of this article. Always consult your local laws, government agencies, and official documentation before sending out any electronic advertising.