Is your email clogged with unsolicited email, some of which is totally offensive?

SPAM is unsolicited bulk email.

Use of the term "SPAM" for bulk email is said to derive from a Monty Python sketch in which the food Spam is in every dish served in the restaurant. (Spam is a canned meat product manufactured by Hormel.)

SPAM has also been linked with fraudulent business schemes, chain letters, and offensive sexual and political messages. Efforts to curtail it have been largely ineffective.

Not all bulk email is SPAM.
Some is permission-based, meaning that the recipient has asked to receive it. For example, if you sign up at the time of making a purchase to receive email or a newsletter (known as "opt-in email"). Unlike SPAM, opt-in email usually provides a benefit such as free information or sale prices.

Hopefully, everyone receiving this email welcomes it. Otherwise, please feel free to opt-out (see instructions below).

What's the law on SPAM?
Anti-SPAM legislation has also been proposed in more than half of the states. State-specific anti-SPAM laws make little sense on the Internet, which is global and in which geographic boundaries are difficult to enforce. As a result, we have a patchwork of inconsistent laws.

There is a lot of legal controversy about whether SPAM should be treated any differently than "mass mailings" or "mass telephone calling." Regulating SPAM also raises Constitutional questions about infringing on First Amendment rights to free speech.

The US Federal Trade Commission has the authority to take action against fraudulent or deceptive commercial and advertising practices. Recent announcements indicate that the FTC is becoming aggressive in initiating enforcement actions against offensive SPAM.

Dealing with SPAM
Until the law becomes more clear, strategies for dealing with SPAM include:

• reporting SPAM to your Internet Service Provider and the regulatory authorities, including your local Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission;
• deleting email just like you throw out unwanted junk mail and delete unwanted messages on your answering machine;
• and “opting out” and using “filters” to reject bulk emails.

• provide an easy way for people to be removed from your list;
• ensure that your email has a valid return address and that your content is truthful and not misleading;
• and if your email has "adult" content, put "ADV:ADLT" (for Adverstisement:Adult) in the subject line.

eNews Subscribe:
To subscribe, please fill out the form below.

Your email:

Jean Sifleet, business attorney, CPA and three-time entrepreneur, is pleased to announce the release of her new book, Advantage “IP”: Profit from Your Great Ideas. Visit the Smartfast Bookstore for details, and to order the book.