CAN-SPAM

Set as a US standard for the regulation of spam email, Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) is an act that establishes the rules for commercial email and commercial messages.

All US businesses that send commercial emails (or employ third-party services to send emails on their behalf) are subject to comply.

The CAN-SPAM Act doesn’t apply just to bulk email. It covers all commercial messages, which the law defines as “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.

The CAN-SPAM Act doesn’t prohibit email advertising, but it prohibits certain fraudulent practices related to email advertising, such as using false or misleading identity information (“From,” “To,” and “Reply to”) or deceptive subject lines.

Under the FTC’s CAN-SPAM Act, you do not need consent prior to adding users located in the US to your mailing list or sending them commercial messages. However, it is mandatory that you provide users with a clear means of opting out of further contact.

The Act requires email advertisers to:

• clearly label those messages as an ad,
• give recipients a means to opt-out of receiving future messages (and honor opt-out requests promptly), and
• provide a valid physical postal address.