A Quick Look at CAN-SPAM

Here is an abridged version of a review of the CAN-SPAM Act that CUNA has available in the e-Guide section on its Web site: On Dec.16, 2003, President Bush signed into law the “Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003″ (“CAN-SPAM” Act of 2003). The new law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2004. The Act’s main purpose is to hinder those who send “commercial e-mail messages” with the intent to mislead or deceive recipients, however, it also imposes certain obligations on legitimate users of commercial e-mail and may affect some credit unions. Under the Act, commercial e-mail senders must: *Not use misleading headers or subject lines. *Provide a clear and conspicuous notice of an opt-out option for future commercial e-mail messages, which must be a functioning return e-mail address (or other Internet-based mechanism) that the recipient can reply to opt-out of future commercial e-mails from the sender. The sender has 10 business days to process a recipient’s opt-out request. *Not send commercial e-mails to any opt-out recipient unless the recipient later consents to receive them, and not transfer the address of any opt-out recipient. *Clearly and conspicuously indicate that the message is an advertisement or solicitation unless the recipient has given prior consent to receipt of the message. *Provide their physical postal address in the message. Exemption for “Transactional” or “Relationship” Messages As mentioned above, the Act regulates “commercial electronic mail messages.” Commercial e-mail messages are defined as those having the primary purpose of advertisement or promotion of a product of service. An e-mail that involves a “transactional” or “relationship” message is not considered a commercial e-mail. These messages are sent to complete or confirm a previously entered commercial transaction, or to provide notice of a change in a previous transaction, or to deliver goods or services, or product updates