New federal law: tries to toss spam in the can.

• Author: DeBaugh, Mark
• Position: Marketing Edge

Since most banks don't send out unsolicited e-mail advertisements, the majority of bank marketers are aware by now that the new federal e-mail anti-spam law that went into effect in January will have limited impact on their operations. Even so, the law does contain some new requirements with respect to the use of e-mail marketing. Marketers need to review and be aware of these requirements.

The law in question is referred to as the CAN-Spam Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003). A key provision requires senders of commercial e-mail to provide recipients the opportunity to opt out of future e-mails. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is responsible for enforcing the law.

The act's goal is to cut down on the unwanted spam that clogs e-mail servers, costing many organizations time and resources in spam prevention. If your financial services organization is not guilty of spamming, the law is unlikely to have a major impact on your e-mail practices. The act does bring some regulatory relief as it preempts state laws regulating commercial e-mail. This could be good news for you and your organization if you've had a difficult time in dealing with varying state law regulations when sending promotional e-mails in a multistate market.

The act defines two types of e-mail messages: commercial and transactional. In a recent telephone briefing for ABA banks, Atty. Gilbert T. Schwartz of the law firm of Schwartz and Ballen, LLP, Washington, D.C., gave the following definition of the difference.

"A 'commercial electronic message' is an e-mail message, the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service. The term includes content on an Internet website operated for a commercial purpose."

With a little help from Schwartz, ABA and the FTC, here are the do's and don'ts to remember when sending promotional e-mails.

* A person should not send a commercial, transactional or relationship message that contains header information that is false and misleading. We've all received those messages where the sender has a bogus e-mail address and the subject is meant to deceive us in to reading their advertisements for a...