SPAM Frequently Asked Questions for Marketers

1. What are the key aspects of CAN SPAM ACT?

• The act applies only to unsolicited commercial email, it does not apply to situations where there is Consent or a Business Relationship

  Requirements fro Unsolicited Commercial Email

• Must have a valid and accurate header:
  • Valid “from”, “subject” and source IP address; cannot be misleading
    • Must provide a functioning “opt-out” mechanism
  • Must be clear and conspicuous
  • Must work and continue to work 30 days after transmission
  • Must remove address within 10 business days
• Must provide a valid physical address of the sender (recommend a street address vs. p.o. box)

  Penalties

• Certain offenses are punishable by up to 5 years in jail and $6mm. The “bad” offenses are:
  • False headers
  • Hijacking other computers to send spam
  • Open relays to deceive blocking systems
  • Hiding the identity of the sending computer

  Paves the way for a Do-Not-Email Registry

• CSA gives the FTC the authorization to create a nationwide do-not-email registry.
  • It is not required to create it, but it is authorized to do it.
    • FTC must submit to Congress a plan and timetable for establishing the registry
  • Must address practical, technical, security, privacy, enforceability, or other concerns
• FTC may implement the plan after 9/1/04

2. Will I see less spam because of it?

• No. Anonymous spammers (90%) will continue to spam.
• Any decrease will be largely due to increasing use of spam filters by ISPs and Admins
• This is a dual-edged sword
  • The good news is they are blocking more bad spam.
  • The bad news is they are also blocking “good” commercial email from retailers, vendors, customers, associations, etc.
• A recent report found that 75% of email tagged as spam was legitimate email.
• Individuals are not receiving special offers, announcements or news that are of interest
• This may affect their business
  • This creates a new set of problems for both senders and recipients of legitimate email

3. Will we have a nationwide do-not-email registry?

• It’s too early too tell. The FTC has 6 months to present a plan to congress. If they decide to pursue it, it could happen anytime after 9/04.
• If it is created, it will only be used by legitimate marketers
  • Bad spammers use untraceable addresses
  • So its effectiveness in curbing bad spam is questionable

4. If my company uses email as a marketing tool, how will it be impacted?

Inbound spam:

• Unlikely to see much of an impact from the CSA
• The only decrease in “bad” spam will come from spam filters
  
  Advice:
  
• As companies implement these systems, they need to inform employees
  • Receive email at home or through a corporate “white list”

  Outbound perspective:

• Will immediately affect how companies use email to reach prospects and customers
  • Keep in mind, it’s not just marketers that use email (also pertains to salespeople)
• Like any regulated activity, it increases the risk of using email as a marketing channel
  • Will need a program to manage those risks while maximizing results from your email marketing programs

5. What should a company do to take precautions?

Business execs need to know how their company is using email to reach customers. There are three aspects that need to be addressed: Legal, Business and Technical

1) Legal: Must be in compliance with the law.

• Requires planning, implementing, educating and monitoring: an email marketing policy.

2) Business: Must protect your image and reputation.

• People are sick of spam, so make sure what you send offers value.
• Need a strategy that ensures you deliver valuable content in a format that enhances your brand
• Need to make recipients feel comfortable (privacy).

3) Technical: Must make sure legitimate messages aren’t being blocked by spam filters

• Spam filters block a lot of legitimate email
• Need to understand the tools and tactics that are being used to block email, and the solutions for getting around them.

The Solution:
We recommend companies take the following steps to maintain effective email marketing programs in this new environment:

• First, they need to develop an email marketing Strategy that utilizes recognized best practices for email marketing.
• Second, they need an Email Policy that lays out the guidelines and procedures for how you will communicate with customers.
• Third, they need to communicate the Policy to employees. It’s important that individuals understand the prescribed do’s and don’ts so they won’t unknowingly put the company at risk.
• Fourth, conduct an Affirmative Consent (or opt-in) program to confirm that subscribers want to receive your message. This will not only allow you to focus on those customers that are interested in you, but will also provide you access to white-listed mail servers (if you use a back-end mail service as we do for our clients). This will enable you to bypass blacklists and filters and reach more of your customers.

Implementing these measures will help you address the legal, business and technical issues:

• Legal: complying with the law will keep you out of trouble. The key is communicating
• Business: help you enhance your brand and build goodwill
• Technical: through Affirmative Consent (opt-in) you can get access to white listed servers and avoid blacklists and spam filters.

6. What’s in store for the future?

Regulatory:
If CSA is not effective in reducing spam, we anticipate the following:

• Do Not Email Registry – while its effectiveness is questionable, it is likely to be implemented as one more effort to thwart spam. Time will tell if this will have any impact on the bad spam.
• Required Affirmative Consent – While “opt-in” is optional today, it may become a requirement at some point in the future. This was a key component of the California Spam Law that was passed in 2003 before being pre-empted by the CSA.

Technical:
There are several methods for verifying senders being discussed. Here are a few that may become more widely used:

• Challenge-response verification: When you send an email, you’ll receive a message (a “challenge”) that will ask you to verify who you are. If you respond to the challenge, your message will be delivered.
  • While this may have a negative impact on network capacity, it is one way to block anonymous spam.
• Corporate white lists: In order for commercial recipients to receive your message, they’ll have to put you on a “white list” that verifies you’re not a spammer. Once you are on the white list, your messages will be delivered.
  • While this also has merit, it will make it very difficult to reach customers that want to be reached at work.

7. How can I reduce the amount of spam I receive?

• Don't display your primary e-mail address in public.
  • Spammers use tools to collect valid addresses from Web pages and online directories. Create a secondary e-mail address for public correspondence.
• Use a filtering tool (spamnet), but remember to review blocked messages
• Don’t submit information on shady websites.
  • If you do, review their privacy policy before submitting information. Key word to look for is “Sharing”
• Selectively unsubscribe.
  • If the sender is a recognized entity it’s okay to unsubscribe. If not, just delete it. Under the new law, marketers are required to remove you from their lists within 10 days.
• Report spammers to uce[at]ftc.gov and to your ISP abuse@yourISP.com