In recent years, unsolicited emails have become a huge headache for consumers online. Also known as spam, these emails often contain offensive material or are used by scammers to obtain personal information for criminal activity. Like all legitimate internet educators, PMI Education applauded when in 2003, Congress took action by instituting the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM). In conjunction with this Act, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) implemented rules to stem the tide of unsolicited content.

Here are some of the key requirements of the FTC’s rules*:

• Identification – Unsolicited commercial e-mail sent to non-wireless accounts must be clearly identified as a solicitation or advertisement for products or services.
• Offering a Way to Reject Future Messages – Commercial e-mail senders must provide easily-accessible, legitimate ways for recipients to reject future messages from that sender.
• Return Address – All commercial e-mail, and e-mail considered transactional and relationship messages (about existing transactions), must contain legitimate return e-mail addresses, as well as the sender’s postal address.
• Subject Lines – Commercial e-mail senders must use subject lines that are accurate. Using misleading or bogus subject lines to trick readers into opening messages is prohibited.

These laws help make life easier for everyone. For one thing, you won’t have to spend as much time sifting through junk emails. Also, when you do receive unwanted messages, you should be able to easily opt out of them. Legitimate email marketers will find that their emails will be more effective as they comply with the FTC rules. Prominent opt-out information may lead to more people remove themselves from email lists, but that is better than dealing with complaints from frustrated customers down the road. CAN-SPAM has provided a strong set of rules to help electronic communication be safer, cleaner and more efficient.

*http://www.fcc.gov/