Can-spam

Email this page to a friend

Want news about Can-spam and more e-mailed to you? Click here for free email alerts

Can-Spam anti-spam law remains useless after first year on the books Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Relemail can play an important role in restoring credibility to the medium of email. can-spam, in contrast, has really only legalized spamming. You see, can-spam doesn't outlaw spam at all: it technically makes it 100% legal! As I've said all along, this isn't a problem that can be solved by legislation alone. It's going to take technical solutions combined with certification processes like Relemail to really make a lasting difference.

REPPED: Just as I predicted over a year ago, can-spam has done absolutely nothing to curtail spam. Today, spam is worse than ever. What's needed is either a technical solution (the Puzzle Solution) or widespread certification of email practices. That's why I created Relemail, an email sender certification service that eliminates the possibility of spam before the emails are ever sent. It also keeps mailers honest through independent auditing of their behaviors, not just their privacy policies. Learn more at Relemail.com.

Web marketing guru Jim Sterne gives advice on how to successfully utilize customer emails Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Even the ones who are taking on email marketing are still slow to implement even basic can-spam compliance. You may know that we did a study of can-spam compliance, and there's one statistic that I'd like you to comment on that I find fascinating -- 51 percent of the emails sent by more than 1,000 companies, including many Fortune 500 companies, had no working unsubscribe link. How do you account for something like that? Sterne: The legal department is asleep at the wheel -- to be can-spam compliant is not difficult. It's not rocket science. It won't affect the brand.

Interview with Jeanne Jennings, Online Marketing Consultant Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Jennings: That's what caused can-spam. The DMA turned around probably a year before that, maybe six months, but that's what caused Congress to act, and that's what caused a lot of publishers and other people who had an interest in email to speak up and say, "No, don't let the California law go into effect. We have to have something override it." So you're exactly right, it's the California right that caused can-spam. Mike: Can you share with readers what you think are some of the simplest and most effective things people can do with to make their email newsletters more effective?

President of eMarketing Association, Robert Fleming, discusses e-marketing certification and the current state of spam Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Fleming: Prior to the can-spam Act, there were a lot of state laws that actually made spam illegal. The can-spam Act simply said, "Well, you can go ahead and send all the spam you want, as long as you have three things in place. You have an address, you have a way for people to opt out and you respect that." That's about it. We actually saw a huge increase in spam this year, which is unfortunate. I think, eventually, we're going to see that go away on its own. It costs too much to send spam if you do it through legitimate spam lists. I think that the problem will eventually resolve itself.

Interview with Ralph Wilson on email marketing and e-commerce Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

One is, I think we should all write our congressman and insist that the FTC enforce the can-spam Act. I think if the can-spam Act were enforced, we would see the amount of spam decrease. To the best of my knowledge, the federal government has not enforced this, or if they have, they have been very quiet about it. There have been a couple of ISPs that have filed lawsuits against a couple hundred of the most egregious spammers. As far as the federal government enforcing their law, they haven't done it. Until they do, we aren't going to see much change.

Web marketing guru Jim Sterne gives advice on how to successfully utilize customer emails Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

You may know that we did a study of can-spam compliance, and there's one statistic that I'd like you to comment on that I find fascinating -- 51 percent of the emails sent by more than 1,000 companies, including many Fortune 500 companies, had no working unsubscribe link. How do you account for something like that? Sterne: The legal department is asleep at the wheel -- to be can-spam compliant is not difficult. It's not rocket science. It won't affect the brand.

Interview with John Levine on the War on SPAM Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Not fabulous -- we were blindsided by can-spam -- but we've managed to knock out some of the more egregious stuff, and I think as people discover that can-spam doesn't work, it's going to come around again. People who want to fight spam might want to check out abuse.net. It's a complaint forwarding service, not a spam analysis service. For that you need to go to SpamCop.net. If you can figure out whom the spam is from, and you want to know who to complain to, abuse.net can help you do that. Mike: Interesting. Okay, so that's abuse.net. Is there a form there, or contact information?

Interview with Jeanne Jennings, Online Marketing Consultant Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

So you're exactly right, it's the California right that caused can-spam. Mike: Can you share with readers what you think are some of the simplest and most effective things people can do with to make their email newsletters more effective? Jennings: The biggest thing you can do is position your whole newsletter around what's in it for the reader. By that, I don't mean they get 20 percent off if they buy your product today. Some people use their newsletters for promotion; other times it's just strictly an editorial case.

Mike: I find it interesting that it's not yet really the law, even the can-spam Act didn't really outlaw spam. Jennings: No. It's really frustrating, and the way I've come to terms with it is, I think it was a good first step considering we had nothing before, but I ... like I said, I get calls all the time from people saying, "Look, I only do opt in. I know it's not illegal if it's not opt in. I just don't want to do it. I just don't agree with it, and I don't think it works as well. That's not how I want to use this medium." So, I know other people who feel the same way that I do.

Interview with Ralph Wilson on email marketing and e-commerce Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Mike: I know a lot of people in the industry looked at this can-spam Act and said it was a feel-good piece of legislation, but it wouldn't have much impact, and it seems to be panning out that way. Wilson: I don't think that is quite fair. It is not an opt-in piece we want to see; it's an opt-out piece of law. However, if it were enforced, it would clean things up dramatically. Mike: Do you think it is just a matter of funding, that the FTC needs more resources? Wilson: I don't know why they aren't enforcing it. They probably don't have enough people on the task.

President of eMarketing Association, Robert Fleming, discusses e-marketing certification and the current state of spam Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

There's been a lot of attention paid this past year to staying compliant with can-spam. But, as you mentioned, even the spammers aren't compliant. Fleming: Well, they are in terms of sending out spam. The tough part of compliance is opting out. That means Acme Corporation has got to take them off the list by law. But it's also got to take them off of all of their partner lists.

Web marketing guru Jim Sterne gives advice on how to successfully utilize customer emails Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

Sterne: The legal department is asleep at the wheel -- to be can-spam compliant is not difficult. It's not rocket science. It won't affect the brand. It doesn't bother anybody -- "Here's a little paragraph that we need you to tack onto the bottom of every e-mail you send" -- game over. So, the legal department is just not paying attention because nobody has sued them yet. I think that's the clearest explanation: The legal system works when there's a threat, so people suing you for not following a law that has no teeth? It's just not happening.

Interview with Ralph Wilson on email marketing and e-commerce Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

I think if the can-spam Act were enforced, we would see the amount of spam decrease. To the best of my knowledge, the federal government has not enforced this, or if they have, they have been very quiet about it. There have been a couple of ISPs that have filed lawsuits against a couple hundred of the most egregious spammers. As far as the federal government enforcing their law, they haven't done it. Until they do, we aren't going to see much change. We need to loudly insist that the act be enforced and some money be put behind enforcing it. Right now, you're right; the medium is under assault.

FAIR USE NOTICE: The research quoted here is provided under the protection of Fair Use provisions and published by the 501(c)3 non-profit Consumer Wellness Center for the purposes of public comment and education. Authors / publishers may submit books for consideration of inclusion here.

TERMS OF USE: Read full terms of use. Citations of text from NaturalPedia must include: 1) Full credit to the original author and book title. 2) Secondary credit to the Natural News Naturalpedia as a research resource and a link to www.NaturalNews.com/np/index.html

This unique compilation of research is copyright (c) 2008 by the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center.

ABOUT THE CREATOR OF NATURALPEDIA: Mike Adams, the creator of this NaturalNews Naturalpedia, is the editor of NaturalNews.com, the internet's top natural health news site, creator of the Honest Food Guide (www.HonestFoodGuide.org), a free downloadable consumer food guide based on natural health principles, author of Grocery Warning, The 7 Laws of Nutrition, Natural Health Solutions, and many other books available at www.TruthPublishing.com, creator of the earth-friendly EcoLEDs company (www.EcoLEDs.com) that manufactures energy-efficient LED lighting products, founder of Arial Software (www.ArialSoftware.com), a permission e-mail technology company, creator of the CounterThink Cartoon series (www.NaturalNews.com/index-cartoons.html) and author of over 1,500 articles, interviews, special reports and reference guides available at www.NaturalNews.com. Adams' personal philosophy and health statistics are available at www.HealthRanger.org.