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E-Mail Marketers Target Spam

Industry accepts FTC's charge to self-enforce e-mail practices to avoid regulation.

By Jennifer DiSabatino, Computerworld   

Among the companies involved in the Responsible Electronic Communication Alliance (RECA) are online advertisers DoubleClick and 24/7 Media.

"RECA was formed to promote professional standards for online communication and marketing," RECA says in a statement.

The coalition is also working toward the adoption of industrywide messaging and e-commerce benchmarks designed to respect consumer privacy as well as the needs of Internet service providers.

In a few weeks the RECA expects to issue detailed principles based on those endorsed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission this summer. The FTC pushed for companies to come up with self-regulatory measures also known as Fair Information Practices (see "FTC, Ad Firms Debate Privacy").

Main Marketers Join

The founding members of RECA include 24/7 Media, @Once, Acxiom Corporation, American List Council, Bigfoot Interactive, ClickAction, Digital Impact, DoubleClick, e-Dialog, EmailChannel, FloNetwork, Netcentives, Phase2Media, Responsys, and yesmail.com.

"There is legitimate concern among Internet users about the e-mail they're receiving," says Christopher Wolf, RECA president. "RECA is a conscientious attempt by our members to address that concern in a positive way."

"Only consumers who consent to receive e-mail will be sent messages from our members. Thus, consumers will have better control over the e-mail they receive," Wolf says.

For more enterprise computing news, visit Computerworld. Story copyright © 2011 Computerworld Inc. All rights reserved.