New emailing rules go into effect at the end of this month. Don’t get caught with your pants down on this one or you might have a problem. The changes aren’t earth-shaking but you will need to know and comply with them if you email any kind of commercial message to a list of virtually any kind.

The Federal Trade Commission has now issued four new rules that amend the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. The amendments go into effect at the end of this month - June, 2008.

The amendments affect all senders of any commercial email with a list of any size from 2, on up.

Here are the rules:

#1 The receiver of the email cannot be required to pay a fee, provide information other than his or her email address and opt-out preferences, and must be able to opt-out of the mailing list using a SINGLE ACTION.

This may be by replying to the email - or by clicking ONE link to go to a SINGLE web page.

#2 The use of the word “person” is defined in regard to whether the CAN-SPAM Act applies. “Person” is now defined to include non-companies. In other words, any and everyone can be liable for sending commercial email - breathing person, company, organization, etc.

#3 You may use a post office box or private mailbox (PMB) - rather than the address of an actual private building - as the physical address in your commercial mailings to satisfy the CAN-SPAM Act.

#4 For any mailing containing advertisements from 3rd party advertisers, either the party who the email is “from” must have an advertisement in the email - or - all of the advertisers with ads in the mailing are responsible for opt-out requests.

This is known as the “Designated Sender” rule. When the party listed in the “From” field has an ad in the mailing, that party becomes responsible for processing opt-out requests.

Source: http://www.i-cop.org/journal/06-23-08.htm
Author: jl scott
You can read jl scott’s take on this in the June 23rd i-Cop Newsletter.

In my opinion, these new amendments cover the places where people most often run afoul of the CAN-SPAM Act. The most common error is not having a “single option opt-out.” And since the term “persons” now includes non-companies (individuals, in other words), it is easy to be in non-compliance even if you are sending emails to a group from your AOL or Gmail accounts or even from your desktop if your email contains any type of commercial solicitation.

Please be aware that complying with the Act and the new amendments is YOUR responsibility as a mailer. If you’d like to read the entire 109 memorandum on these amendments, you can get it here.