Question

Topic: E-Marketing

Does Can-spam Act Affect My Usual Business Email

Posted by Anonymous on 2/15/2005 at 11:35 PM ET 250 Points
How does CAN-SPAM Act affect my usual email that I send to my internal email list while conducting normal business. Or does it?
For instance, if I normally sent my customers alerts via email of new products, do I now have to Opt-in my internal list before sending out the next email alert?
Or say 30% of my customers have given me their email addresses prior to CAN-SPAM and Opt-in's. Can I email them directly, or do I have to get them to Opt-in before I broadcast an email to them.
One other example. Say I have their email and I have a specific question about an order they have placed. Can I email them without an Opt-in.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Markitek on 2/15/2005 at 11:49 PM Accepted
    Non legal advice--but correct I think.

    You can do all of those things you listed. You are communicating with a customer and you are doing so in a way that does not violate any of the provisions of the act: these are all what are generally referred to in the act as transactional messages.

    In general CAN SPAM regulates against issues like misleading subject lines, bogus header information, ignoring opt out requests and content appropriateness--but it doesn't stop people from communicating with customers, conducting business, or using email as a direct marketing tool

    You can read the act here:

    https://www.spamlaws.com/federal/108s877.html
  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 2/16/2005 at 12:19 AM Accepted
    You do have to comply with CAN-SPAM with marketing communications, like alerting customers to new products. But it is not as difficult as it sounds.

    CAN-SPAM does not require you to opt-in, but it does require that you provide a way for them to opt-out. And one of the main part of CAN-SPAM is that you can't lie about who you are or what you are sending.

    Here is a pretty good article that summarizes (in plain English) the CAN-SPAM requirements - https://www.marketingprofs.com/4/squillante3.asp
  • Posted by telemoxie on 2/16/2005 at 8:34 AM Accepted
    I'm not an attorney, but one thing to be careful about: your definition of a "customer" may be different than the CAN-Spam definition of a "customer". Be sure you read info such as the link Peter posted carefully.

    Certainly you should comply with all the items in the legislation for unsolicited email (physical address, opt-out mechanism, etc...)

    ... but if it were me, in your situation I would be much less worried about being sued by the US Government and much more worried about whether or not the email is percieved by the "customer" as SPAM.
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