Earlier this week the FTC released an update to the "Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act" (CAN-SPAM Act) based on feedback from consumers, a broad representation of people in the online industry, as well as the commission's own legal experience.  The new rule provisions are intended to clarify some of the Act's requirements.  Here is a quick summary of the highlights for our fellow email marketers.

Four new rule provisions include:

1) The unsubscribe process must be as simple as possible (i.e. send a reply email or visit a single web page to opt-out), and users should not be required to pay fees, log in to an interface, nor provide any information other than their email address and their opt-out preferences. 

2) Clarification of who the "sender" is in the relationship.  In the original version of the Act, a sender included not only the initiator of the message but also the company(ies) whose product, service, or internet website was advertised or promoted by the message. This meant that if a hotel sent an email including advertisements for a spa, car service, and restaurant, all four entities had to comply with the opt-out rules of CAN-SPAM.  The amended definition now allows for a "primary sender" or a "designated sender" as the only one bound to comply with the CAN-SPAM rules.  It is this sender who must include their physical mailing address on the email message.

3) Senders of commercial email are now permitted to use an accurately-registered PO Box, as established under the USPS regulation, as a valid physical mailing address.

4) Defining "person" to indicate that these regulations are not limited to an individual.  It now includes: "an individual, group, unincorporated association, limited or general partnership, corporation, or other business entity."

Unchanged regulations include:

• The definition of "transactional or relationship message"
• The length of time a "sender" has to honor an opt-out request
• How CAN-SPAM applies to "forward-to-a-friend" email campaigns - original sender must still comply with all CAN-SPAM regulations

For More Information...

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