I avoided writing about Spam or junk emails before because there weren't any real controls or anti-Spam laws to keep Spammers in check.

Pretty much every ISP, every company and you and I, did what was in our power to control it... Spam filters, block sender lists and above all making sure that we kept up with your email inbox before it would overflow.

But as of January 1, 2004 there is a way to keep Spammers in check...it's called The Can-Spam Act of 2003. But before we go into how it affects you and me, let's define what Spam is and why some emails are called Spam.

Spam, has two meanings the first the popular pink lunch meat in a can form Hormel Foods, Co. Second (the pertinent one) Spam is an unsolicited e-mail, often of a commercial nature, sent indiscriminately to multiple mailing lists, individuals, or newsgroups; junk e-mail, The American Heritage® Dictionary. A.k.a, Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE).

Spam, has two meanings the first the popular pink lunch meat in a can form Hormel Foods, Co. Second (the pertinent one) Spam is an unsolicited e-mail, often of a commercial nature, sent indiscriminately to multiple mailing lists, individuals, or newsgroups; junk e-mail, The American Heritage® Dictionary. A.k.a, Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE).

The term Spam used in the context of email comes from a comedy skit from the British funny team, Monty Python. In the skit, everything in this restaurant's menu came with Spam -- even if the customer just wanted eggs, they came with Spam.

The loose analogy is that Spam is everywhere. If you want email it comes with Spam. That makes a lot of sense...sure it does...I said it was a loose analogy.

Regardless of whether the analogy makes sense or not, Spam is annoying, time consuming and costly. It takes up bandwidth and memory space in your inbox.

Now that we've talked about the brief history of Spam, let's talk about getting rid of it!

What the national Can-Spam Act of 2004 is requiring from anyone who sends commercial or promotional emails is that they include the following in the messages:

Postal address

The "From Line" and "Subject Lines"

Subscription and Unsubscription

Suppression File

Fines

If your are involved in any type of email marketing whatsoever follow the guidelines above and set time apart to read the complete Can-Spam Act of 2003.

This should keep you and me out of trouble!

The article above is my summary of the main points of the Can-Spam Act of 2003; it is my sincere attempt to help non-marketers/marketers and business owners protect themselves and their companies from what's out there.

By no means am I a lawyer or is this legal advice, I suggest you talk to your legal advisor and review what you are doing in this aspect.

I welcome any questions in this matter, just reply with them and I will try to answer them to the best of my limited knowledge -- and yes it is limited indeed!

Please forward this article to anyone you know that might be affected by the new laws.

See you next month!

Marcos and Group - making eNewsletters that follow the rules!

P.S. Don't forget to rate this article.

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Check out past issues of Enewsletter Marketing Insights, a.k.a Emi.

Ah, The Mighty, Mighty Slogan Says It All. (Nov. 2003)

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