10/17/2011

The US CAN-SPAM Laws De-Mystified


The United States Federal Trade Commission introduced CAN-SPAM legislation back in 2003 that requires marketers to abide by the following guidelines in order to send email to their mailing lists:

  • A valid postal mailing address embedded in all commercial emails.
  • A valid return email address or internet based reply mechanism that will function for at least 30 days after the sending date.
  • A working “Unsubscribe” link that is clear and easy to find.
  • When someone unsubscribes, you must honor that request within 10 business days.
  • A subject line that is directly relevant to the content of the message.
  • A piece of the message that clearly designates the message as an advertisement.
Then on 7/7/08, the US government updated these laws with the following requirements:

  • Further definition that a PO Box is valid for a physical postal address in your messages.
  • Redefines a “person” as: “an individual, group, unincorporated association, limited or general partnership, corporation or other business entity”.
  • Sets criteria allowing multiple “senders” of a commercial email, under certain conditions, to identify a single company as the sole “designated sender” of the message.
  • Requires marketers to make their opt-out process easy.

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Hi, I'm Stephanie

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Orlando, Florida, United States
I am an Email Marketing Strategist. I help people look at what they want to say and find the best way to say it. I specialize in Permissions Based Email Marketing and am professionally Certified in Email Marketing Best Practices for 2011-2012.