Read this guide online at: http://mailchimp.com/resources/guides/spam-lawsuits/ Spam is serious business. If you send email marketing, you need to be aware of the rules, because breaking them can get expensive. In addition to CAN-SPAM's guidelines, specific ISPs and even different geographic locations have their own rules. This guide provides a brief overview of those rules, plus some examples of what's happened when companies have broken them. What’s inside: An overview of spam regulations and what can happen if you don't follow them. We'll cover: The CAN-SPAM act of 2003 ISP rules Location-specific spam laws Notable spam lawsuits

2. Spam Lawsuits:
What’s the
Worst That Can
Happen?
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3. Hello.
Spam is serious business. So serious, in fact, that it sometimes results
in expensive lawsuits. If you’re a MailChimp customer, chances are you
already know this. But maybe you recently started an email-marketing
project for a client—or, worse, your boss—who told you, “Look, we’re not
spammers here, so we don’t have to worry about those CAN-SPAM laws.”
Next time, you can hand them this guide. Or maybe just print it out and
quietly put it on their desk. We won’t tell.
Obviously, you should never, ever send emails to a purchased list. You
should also never dump your address book into your email subscriber list.
This is all common sense. But there are subtle mistakes that can get you
into trouble as well. Whether it’s simple, human forgetfulness that caused
you to leave out a physical mailing address in your email footer or the
innocent misuse of the word “free” in a subject line, it’s easier than you
might think to get pulled over by a spam cop. This guide runs through
some big brands who’ve had to pay huge settlements to the FTC for
seemingly harmless mistakes. Read it, pass it on, and stay out of trouble.
Oh, and one more thing: Don’t be a Rudy.
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4. Rules And
Regulations
Sending email marketing comes along with quite a few guidelines and
laws. They’re often complicated, and they frequently change. Stay on top
of these rules and regulations, and consult a lawyer if you’re ever in doubt.
Understand CAN-SPAM
The CAN-SPAM act is the best place to start. Understanding the rules
laid out in this landmark act of 2003 is the essential first step to sending
a clean campaign. Consult your lawyer. Consult your physician before
you consult your lawyer. Consult whoever it takes. Just learn these rules,
because they are the basis on which you can get sued.
ISPs Have Rules, Too
Unfortunately, the rules don’t stop at CAN-SPAM. If you send bulk email,
even if its permission-based, to recipients who have email accounts at
major ISPs, you need to abide by the ISPs’ rules too. You can usually find
them at their postmaster pages. For example, postmaster.yahoo.com.
Know Where Your Email is Going
Many countries have different spam laws, which means that, even if you’re
sending from the United States, if your email goes to Europe, Canada,
the United Kingdom or Australia, then you have to abide by different
regulations. Even sending to and from certain U.S. states (*cough*
California *cough*) entails different rules. The bottom line is that if you’re
sending to or from these territories, you should make sure you know their
specific rules or consult with a lawyer who knows them.
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5. A Few Notable
Spam Lawsuits
“C’mon, it’s just an email. What’s the worst that can happen?” Actually, Creative Subject Lines Can Be Deceptive
you’d be surprised. Below is a list of email-related lawsuits that have
made headlines in recent years, and what you, as a MailChimp customer,
Lawsuit: Jumpstart, $900,000
can learn from them.
“’These defendants intentionally used personal messages as a cover-up for
commercial messages,’ said Lydia Parnes, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of
Simple, Innocent Mistakes Can Be Costly Consumer Protection. ‘Deceptive subject lines and headers not only violate
the CAN-SPAM Act, but also consumer trust.’”
Lawsuit: Kodak Imaging Network, $32,000 Takeaway: In your effort to “get the sale” and make people open your
emails, it’s important to not get overly-creative with your subject lines to
“The Federal Trade Commission has charged two internet marketers with the point of deception.
violating the CAN-SPAM Act by failing to offer an opt-out method or honor
consumers’ right to opt out of receiving future marketing mailings within
10 days of making the request. One marketer also failed to include a valid
physical postal address, which also is required by the CAN-SPAM Act.” Your Third Parties are Your Responsibility
Takeaway: It’s been said that the Kodak incident was an accident, Lawsuit: Optin Global, $475,000
where someone mistakenly sent a campaign before it was complete with
unsubscribe links and postal address. Simple, innocent mistakes can be “In April 2005, the FTC and the Attorney General of California charged
costly. that the defendants used third-party affiliates or ‘button pushers’ to send
spam hawking mortgage loans and other products and services.”
Takeaway: Do you use third party affiliate marketers to sell your product?
Links are Safer Than “Reply To” Unsubscribes Do you closely monitor how they send and collect email addresses?
Lawsuit: YesMail, $50,000
“The FTC’s complaint alleges that Yesmail’s spam filtering software filtered
Free Can Be Expensive
out certain ‘reply to’ unsubscribe requests from recipients as ‘spam,’
which resulted in Yesmail failing to honor unsubscribe requests by sending Lawsuit: ValueClick, $2.9 million
thousands of commercial e-mail messages to recipients more than 10
business days after their requests.” “According to the FTC, ValueClick subsidiary Hi-Speed Media used
deceptive e-mails, banner ads, and pop-ups to drive consumers to its Web
Takeaway: Using the “reply-to us and we’ll remove you” method is legal, sites. The e-mails and online ads claimed that consumers were eligible for
but if those replies get accidentally deleted by your company’s spam filter, ‘free’ gifts, including laptops, iPods, and high-value gift cards…”
you could get sued. Have you ever seen a legit email get flagged by your
company’s spam filter? It happens all the time. Safer to use a link that Takeaway: Nothing sells like free. But are there any catches to your offer?
instantly removes people from your list. If so, using “free” in your subject line might be seen as deceptive.
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