E-mail Marketing Compliance
E-mail Marketing Compliance
CAN-SPAM outlines what can and can’t be done with regard to e-mail marketing, and imposes requirements on the use of commercial e-mail including e-mails from non-profits organizations.
The Act prohibits sending a commercial e-mail without:
- Conspicuous indication that the message is an advertisement or solicitation
- Clear notice of the opportunity to decline to receive further commercial e-mail messages from the sender
- A valid physical postal address of the sender
There are no restrictions against a company sending e-mail to existing customers or anyone who has inquired about its products or services. As long as you’ve followed the above three rules and obtained the e-mail address through legitimate means, you should be in the clear.
As far as what not to do, the Act specifies 4 “aggravated violations” which compound any penalties:
- Address harvesting - the process of obtaining lists of e-mail addresses using various methods for use in bulk e-mail or other purposes usually grouped as spam.
- Dictionary attacks -using software that opens a connection to the target mail server and then rapidly submits millions of random e-mail addresses.The software then records which addresses are "live" and adds the addresses to the spammer's list.
- Automated creation of multiple e-mail accounts
- Relaying or retransmitting through unauthorized access to a protected computer or network
In 2008, the following revisions and clarifications were added:
- Liability may attach to any “person," meaning companies can also be held liable.
- When a single e-mail has multiple contributors, they may designate a single sender (identified in the from-line of the email) whose physical address appears in the e-mail, and whose products or services are promoted in the message. The sole sender assumes all responsibility.
- A physical address no longer needs to be included in every email, as long as an accurately registered P.O. or private mailbox is.
- Making the opt-out process intentionally difficult is a violation. You also run the risk of users marking your e-mail as spam, and you could eventually be blacklisted at the IP level.
If a recipient opts out, you have 10 days to stop sending them e-mails, and can only use the address for compliance purposes. The law also requires that the unsubscribe mechanism must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days from the day the commercial e-mail was sent. Additionally, the legislation prohibits the sale or transfer of an e-mail address after an opt-out request.
It is not hard to follow all of the rules when you use Avallo's services. But if you try to do it yourself and have a problem, just know that the Act does not allow e-mail recipients to sue you or file class-action lawsuits, but allows enforcement by the FTC, State Attorneys General, Internet service providers and other federal agencies.