CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 Compliance

Apex IT is CAN-SPAM Compliant

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (15 U.S.C. 7701, et seq., Public Law No. 108-187, was S.877 of the 108th Congress) establishes requirements for those who send commercial email, spells out penalties for spammers and companies whose products are advertised in spam if they violate the law, and gives consumers the right to ask emailers to stop spamming them.

The law, which became effective January 1, 2004, covers email whose primary purpose is advertising or promoting a commercial product or service, including content on a Web site. A "transactional or relationship message" – email that facilitates an agreed-upon transaction or updates a customer in an existing business relationship – may not contain false or misleading routing information, but otherwise is exempt from most provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency, is authorized to enforce the CAN-SPAM Act. CAN-SPAM also gives the Department of Justice (DOJ) the authority to enforce its criminal sanctions. Other federal and state agencies can enforce the law against organizations under their jurisdiction, and companies that provide Internet access may sue violators, as well.

Main Points of the Can-Spam Act

• It bans false or misleading header information.
  
• It prohibits deceptive subject lines.
• Requires a clear and conspicuous opt-out mechanism within every commercial email.
• Requires the inclusion of a valid physical postal address within every commercial email.

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) will be strict in their enforcement of the Can-Spam law and violators may be subject to 'cease and desist' orders or penalties up to $11,000 per violation. Criminal prosecution is also possible in the case of egregious offenders, which can result in penalties such as fines, forfeiture of proceeds and equipment. The worst offenders will also be subject to prison time. We know that legitimate email marketers (such as yourself!) will likely not have to worry about the consequences mentioned above but it's important for you to know about the seriousness of this law. This leads us into our next topic as we explain the changes being made within the iBuilder system to adapt to the Can-Spam law.

What Apex IT has done to comply:

False or Misleading Headers
Apex IT does not allow the manipulation of any email header information and does not use relays to deploy our email campaigns. This means that anyone reading your email (recipient, ISP, etc) will be able to clearly see that your email is being sent from Apex IT's servers.

Deceptive Subject Lines
Any subject line attached to an outgoing campaign must clearly relate to the content of the email. Deceptive or misleading subject lines are prohibited both by Apex IT and also by federal law.

Opt-Out Mechanism in Every Email
Apex IT automatically inserts unsubscribe details to the bottom of every email sent as part of a campaign or subscription list from our servers. Additionally, we clearly maintain an "Unsubscribe" page our our website where visitors can remove themselves from email subscription lists and add themselves to our Opt-Out List.

Valid Physical Postal Address
The CAN-SPAM law also requires that the 'sender of the email' shall have a physical postal address within the content of the message. The Apex IT postal address appears in the footer of every email sent as part of a campaign or subscription list from our servers.

More Information
For more information about the Can-Spam Act of 2003, visit:
http://www.ftc.gov/spam