What is CAN-SPAM?
CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing) is an act that was passed in 2003. The act formulates the rules for commercial email and commercial messages. It gives recipients the right to have a business stop emailing them and also outlines the penalties incurred for those who violate the law.
The CAN-SPAM law covers any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service, including email that promotes content on commercial websites. The law makes no exception for business-to-business email. It does, however, exempt transactional and relationship messages.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
For every single email that violates the CAN-SPAM Act, the FTC can fine you up to $51,744 per email.
For example, if you send 10,000 non-compliant emails, you could be liable for penalties up to $517,440,000 (over 517 million dollars).
Do’s and Don’ts for CAN-SPAM Compliance
For CAN-SPAM compliance, you need to include the following in every email you send:
Do’s:
Include your valid physical postal address.
Provide a clear way to unsubscribe from your emails, and honor unsubscribe requests within 10 business days.
Use clear “From,” “To,” and “Reply-To” fields that accurately identify who you are.
Don’ts:
Don’t use deceptive subject lines or misleading header information.
Don’t sell or transfer email addresses of those who unsubscribe.
Don’t ignore unsubscribe requests or delay their processing
For a more detailed understanding of the act, kindly refer to the FTC CAN-SPAM Compliance Guide for Business.
