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CAN-SPAM means we can spam?
CAN-SPAM = Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited
Pornography and Marketing
This went into effect on January 1.
A very small percentage of unsolicited commercial email complies with US Federal
anti-spam laws introduced in January 2004. An Email security firm found that of
a random sample of over 1,000 unsolicited commercial emails received during the
first week of the law only THREE of the messages complied with the CAN-SPAM Act.
The CAN-SPAM Act set up an opt-out regime for the
regulation of commercial email.
The Act contains the following provisions:
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Permissions for certain forms of unsolicited
commercial email as long as it is clearly marked as an advertisement and
allows consumers to unsubscribe from future unsolicited commercial email
from the sender.
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Prohibition of sending commercial email
containing sexually oriented material unless labeled as such.
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The Outlawing of the use of false email headers
or the use of a mail server or open relay to deceive recipients about the
origin of a commercial email message.
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Allows the FTC, state attorneys general and
Internet providers (but not the public) to sue companies who violate the
law.
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Provision for the establishment by the FTC of a
"Do-Not-SPAM" registry.
More than fifty per cent of Internet email is spam creating problems of
lost productivity, communication bandwidth consumption, increased storage
costs, IT resource drain and increased corporate liability.
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