Questions About the CAN-SPAM Act

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Monthy

Hi,

I have read the CAN-SPAM guidelines for sending unsolicited commercial email and have a few questions. I would greatly appreciate if anyone experienced could comment on them.

1) The guidelines do not expicitly state that I must use my full real name when sending a message. I was thinking I am not really comfortable including my full real name in the message that I send to many people. Therefore I was thinking, if I leave out my second name and only include my first name, would that pose a problem in terms of compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act?

At the same time, I do not want to use a pen name as I do not intend to hide my true identity from them. As far as I know, the CAN-SPAM dictates that the sender must not create any confusion in the mind of the recipient as to who is actually sending the email. I am thinking whether inclusion of only my first name would be considered a violation of the Act.

2) If I am located in another country than the U.S., can I register a P.O. box in my local city and include that as the physical address that is required by the Act?

3) I do not intend to send unsolicited mail repeatedly, only once to a handful of selected business owners. Does that mean I can ignore the CAN-SPAM guidelines that pertain to the possibility to unsubscribe from future emails?

Best regards,
Monthy

All electronic messaging is governed by the Can Spam act. This does nothing in regard to prohibiting people from messaging 100's of thousands of people. The Spam act is very clear, which you can read here: https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/busi...guide-business

Simply state these rules do not prohibit any one from messaging someone electronically without permission. In fact many people call the the spam act the I CAN SPAM ACT, since there is not a prohibition of soliciting people out of the blue. The rules set guidelines such as the following:

Don't use false or misleading header information. Your "From," "To," "Reply-To," and routing information - including the originating domain name and email address - must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.
Don't use deceptive subject lines. The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.
Identify the message as an ad. The law gives you a lot of leeway in how to do this, but you must disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement.
Tell recipients where you're located. Your message must include your valid physical postal address. This can be your current street address, a post office box you've registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a private mailbox you've registered with a commercial mail receiving agency established under Postal Service regulations.
Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you. Your message must include a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of getting email from you in the future. Craft the notice in a way that's easy for an ordinary person to recognize, read, and understand. Creative use of type size, color, and location can improve clarity. Give a return email address or another easy Internet-based way to allow people to communicate their choice to you. You may create a menu to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to stop all commercial messages from you. Make sure your spam filter doesn't block these opt-out requests.
Honor opt-out requests promptly. Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your message. You must honor a recipient's opt-out request within 10 business days. You can't charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying information beyond an email address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request. Once people have told you they don't want to receive more messages from you, you can't sell or transfer their email addresses, even in the form of a mailing list. The only exception is that you may transfer the addresses to a company you've hired to help you comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.
Monitor what others are doing on your behalf. The law makes clear that even if you hire another company to handle your email marketing, you can't contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law. Both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that actually sends the message may be held legally responsible.

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JohnMcCabe

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Monthy

Hi,

I have read the CAN-SPAM guidelines for sending unsolicited commercial email and have a few questions. I would greatly appreciate if anyone experienced could comment on them.

Let's start with the standard CYA disclaimer. I am not a lawyer, don't play one on TV, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. My answers are not legal advice, simply my opinions based on my reading of the guidelines and my experiences with them.

Originally Posted by Monthy

1) The guidelines do not expicitly state that I must use my full real name when sending a message. I was thinking I am not really comfortable including my full real name in the message that I send to many people. Therefore I was thinking, if I leave out my second name and only include my first name, would that pose a problem in terms of compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act?

At the same time, I do not want to use a pen name as I do not intend to hide my true identity from them. As far as I know, the CAN-SPAM dictates that the sender must not create any confusion in the mind of the recipient as to who is actually sending the email. I am thinking whether inclusion of only my first name would be considered a violation of the Act.

Do you use a company name? If so, you can use that rather than your actual name.

Using a first initial and last name would be preferable than just a first name.

J. Doe vs. John

Originally Posted by Monthy

2) If I am located in another country than the U.S., can I register a P.O. box in my local city and include that as the physical address that is required by the Act?

If people can contact you via the PO Box, you should be fine here.

Originally Posted by Monthy

3) I do not intend to send unsolicited mail repeatedly, only once to a handful of selected business owners. Does that mean I can ignore the CAN-SPAM guidelines that pertain to the possibility to unsubscribe from future emails?

Best regards,
Monthy

Even if you only intend to email once, you still have to give the option of not receiving future emails.

You don't have to call that option "unsubscribe", nor does the option have to be a clickable link. You could use language something like:

"This is a one time email. If you would like to be placed on our 'do not email' list, simply contact us at [mailing address]. We filter our mailings against this list as some of our contacts are listed from multiple sources."

HTH

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onSubie

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Monthy

1) The guidelines do not expicitly state that I must use my full real name when sending a message. I was thinking I am not really comfortable including my full real name in the message that I send to many people. Therefore I was thinking, if I leave out my second name and only include my first name, would that pose a problem in terms of compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act?

You must have a business address. The name you choose is not dictated by CAN-SPAM. You could call yourself "Bob" or "Lightening Car Wash" or "The Pool Guy".

2) If I am located in another country than the U.S., can I register a P.O. box in my local city and include that as the physical address that is required by the Act?

A US address is not requires so long as it is a valid business address. You could use a PO Box, an office or your home address.

I use a box in a UPS Store. They don't require the address to be a "box". The post office requires P.O. Box 123, 26 Any St. A private box allows the address 123-26 Any St.

3) I do not intend to send unsolicited mail repeatedly, only once to a handful of selected business owners. Does that mean I can ignore the CAN-SPAM guidelines that pertain to the possibility to unsubscribe from future emails?

If it is a "one time" mail out you should put a note at the bottom explaining that they need do nothing and they will receive no more emails.

If you plan on continuing to email them until they request that you stop, then you need an unsubscribe link or instructions in the email.

Edit: LOL Overlapped with John. I mean J. McCabe.

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Monthy

9 years ago

Hi John,

Thank you very much for the response.

What is your opinion when it comes to using a real name vs. a company name? I have heard many people say "always use your real name, build the website as a person not as a company because people are more likely to buy from folks than from companies". What do you think?

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JohnMcCabe

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Monthy

Hi John,

Thank you very much for the response.

What is your opinion when it comes to using a real name vs. a company name? I have heard many people say "always use your real name, build the website as a person not as a company because people are more likely to buy from folks than from companies". What do you think?

It somewhat depends on your overall strategy. Are you looking to brand yourself as some kind of expert? Use a name, either your real name or a pen name (like Betty Crocker). Be consistent.

Are you looking to build an asset you can later sell? Use a company name, but use a real person to post to the site.

Even though I own a site, I'll often list myself (under whatever name) as 'publisher' or 'general manager' or 'managing director' or whatever title is appropriate. That way, when it's time to sell, the transfer is much easier than if you build a "star shop" where you are the company.

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onSubie

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Monthy

What is your opinion when it comes to using a real name vs. a company name? I have heard many people say "always use your real name, build the website as a person not as a company because people are more likely to buy from folks than from companies". What do you think?

You can build the site "as a person not as a company" and still use a pen name.

It really depends on you, your business and what you want to do.

Mark Twain = not his real name
Billy Idol = not his real name
Katy Perry = not her real name

In the dating niche, marketing Guru Eben Pagan goes by the name David DeAngelo.

A lot of marketers use a different "pen name" for different niches.

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Ghoster

9 years ago

3) I do not intend to send unsolicited mail repeatedly, only once to a handful of selected business owners. Does that mean I can ignore the CAN-SPAM guidelines that pertain to the possibility to unsubscribe from future emails?

CAN-SPAM is not really meant for B2B emails. It's more for B2C. Just use common sense and include a way for them to opt-out. Even if it's just as simple as replying and saying they want to be added to your do not contact list.

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Phil Essex

9 years ago

As well it is country specific - in canada now we have very strict laws.. fines etc

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Monthy

9 years ago

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

It somewhat depends on your overall strategy. Are you looking to brand yourself as some kind of expert? Use a name, either your real name or a pen name (like Betty Crocker). Be consistent.

Are you looking to build an asset you can later sell? Use a company name, but use a real person to post to the site.

Even though I own a site, I'll often list myself (under whatever name) as 'publisher' or 'general manager' or 'managing director' or whatever title is appropriate. That way, when it's time to sell, the transfer is much easier than if you build a "star shop" where you are the company.

Thank you, John, even though I do not use my real name within the domain name and the site as such as not called after me, I do mention my first real name on the website where I will be sending my email recipients and so I think I will be branded both as the "site" name" and my "first name", if you know what I mean. This could lead to dilution, I thought, but I am not too concerned with it, I just focus on getting it done.

Originally Posted by Ghoster

CAN-SPAM is not really meant for B2B emails. It's more for B2C. Just use common sense and include a way for them to opt-out. Even if it's just as simple as replying and saying they want to be added to your do not contact list.

Actually I will be offering my email recipients article writing services. They are businesses but I will position myself as a business, too. However, the content that I sell to them is, most often, not going to be re-sold, they are going to be the end consumers of it.

In such a transaction, would the businesses be considered businesses or consumers? Would it be a B2B or B2C transaction?

Originally Posted by Phil Essex

As well it is country specific - in canada now we have very strict laws.. fines etc

Hi Phil,

What fines do you mean? Fines imposed for what?

Thank you all!

Monthy

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Questions About the CAN-SPAM Act

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