The Can-Spam Act: Not Canning Spam
Information Today, Vol. 24, No. 3, p. 15, March 2007
3 Pages Posted: 13 Aug 2010
Date Written: March 2007
Abstract
Congress attempted to address the problem of unsolicited commercial e-mail, as spam is officially known, three years ago with the enactment of the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act, or CAN-SPAM Act. The Act was an attempt to regulate and restrict spam by requiring commercial e-mail marketers to meet a set of standards in their e-mail, or face civil or criminal sanctions. The Act does not completely ban unsolicited commercial e-mail. As with most laws, concepts that may seem obvious becomes less so when tested by those impacted by the law and interpreted by the courts. A recent federal court decision found that particular concepts in the Act were not quite as cut and dried as might appear.
Keywords: advertising law, commercial law, Internet law, CAN-SPAM Act, legislation, regulation, free speech, commercial speech, commercial e-mail, unsolicited, junk mail, sanctions, e-deal
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