Keeping Your E-Mail Campaigns Legal

As your inbox fills up each day with dozens (or even hundreds) of junk e-mails, it's hard to believe that the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act went into effect back in 2004. The problem is that many of these SPAM offenders are clicking "Send" from outside of the United States, and therefore aren't under U.S. jurisdiction. However, if your company is in the U.S., you'll need to make sure that your next e-mail marketing campaign follows each of the anti-SPAM laws. Otherwise, you could be liable for damages up to $2,000,000 and/or up to five years imprisonment.

But, don't worry; following the laws isn't difficult - though you may need to tweak your existing email campaign format a bit. Here's a list of what you can and can't do in your next email campaign, under the CAN-SPAM Act:

What's Allowed in Commercial E-mail Campaigns

* Sending e-mails to customers in order to complete a transaction.

* Answering e-mails that were sent to you.

* Sending e-mails to customers or individuals who have subscribed to your newsletter or have agreed to be notified of specials, new products, etc.

* Sending e-mails to customers about a product upgrade, update, warranty or recall that applies specifically to their purchase.

In addition, when sending out any of the above emails, the CAN-SPAM Act requires that ALL commercial e-mails sent must include 1) a "valid physical postal address of the sender." 2) a valid e-mail return address 3) your company name and 4) a link for readers to permanently opt-out or unsubscribe to future emails, newsletters, promotions, etc.

What's Not Allowed in Commercial Email Campaigns

* Sending commercial e-mails where the subject heading of the message "would be likely to mislead a recipient, acting reasonably under the circumstances, about a material fact regarding the contents or subject matter of the message." In other words, using a false subject line with the intent of tricking the recipient to open the e-mail message.

* Having sexually explicit content in your email without 1) clearly identifying it in the subject line and 2) having consent from the intended recipient.

* Adding or sending commercial e-mails to people who are not subscribed to your newsletter or promotions list.

* Using an invalid return e-mail address.

* Using false information in the From or To headers.

* Using scripts or automated ways of collecting email addresses for your email marketing campaign.

* Generating e-mail lists using a "dictionary attack" - combining names, letters, or numbers to form individual e-mail addresses. For example: a@hotmail.com, b@hotmail.com, c@hotmail.com, etc.

Remember, the penalties are steep for not following every aspect of the CAN-SPAM Act. For more information about the CAN-SPAM act, you can visit the FTC's website: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.shtm.