ActiveCampaign fully supports aggressive anti-spam regulations, and encourages our clients to be aware of and to follow the regulations already in effect.
The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (15 U.S.C. 7701, et seq. - html version) established the United States' first national standards for sending commercial e-mail. The acronym CAN-SPAM derives from the bill's full name: Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003.
CAN-SPAM defines spam as "any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service (including content on an Internet website operated for a commercial purpose)." It exempts "transactional or relationship messages."
The bill forbids e-mail marketers to send unsolicited commercial e-mail unless it contains all of:
an opt-out mechanism;
a valid subject line and header (routing) information;
the legitimate physical address of the mailer; and
a label if the content is adult.
If a user opts out, a sender has ten days to cease sending spam. The legislation also prohibits the sale or other transfer of an e-mail address after an opt-out request.
Use of automated means to register for multiple e-mail accounts from which to send spam compound other violations. It prohibits sending sexually-oriented spam without the label later determined by the FTC of SEXUALLY-EXPLICIT. This label replaced the similar state labeling requirements of ADV:ADLT or ADLT. Labeling regulations for general spam will be commented on by the FTC this summer.
CAN-SPAM preempts existing state anti-spam laws that do not deal with fraud. It makes it a misdemeanor to send spam with falsified header information. A host of other common spamming practices can make a CAN-SPAM violation an "aggravated offense," including harvesting, dictionary attacks, Internet protocol spoofing, hijacking computers through Trojan horses or worms, or using open mail relays for the purpose of sending spam.
