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Spam Laws: Bark or Bite?

New antispam efforts aren't expected to end the scourge.

Tom Spring

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What the Antispam Laws Do

California Spam Law (formerly SB 186)

  • Unsolicited commercial e-mail may not be sent from California or to a California address.
  • The law applies to senders as well as to advertisers on whose behalf messages are sent.
  • Damages may be up to $1000 for each message sent to an individual, and up to $1 million per incident.
  • Exempted are companies that you (the e-mail recipient) have done business with, as well as companies whose commercial messages you have opted to receive.

Federal CAN-SPAM Act of 2003(S. 877)

  • Unsolicited commercial e-mail must be labeled, and must include opt-out instructions and the sender's physical address.
  • Deceptive subject lines and false headers are prohibited.
  • Violators face jail sentences of up to a year and fines of up to $1 million. Repeat offenders face jail terms of up to five years.
  • Federal law preempts any state laws that prohibit unsolicited commercial e-mail outright.
  • The FTC is authorized to establish a "do-not-e-mail" registry.
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