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What Is Spam, And What Is The Anti-Spam Law?

Spam is unsolicited, noncompensated commercial electronic mail sent in bulk that is usually fraudulent or deceptive in nature. On December 16, 2003, President Bush signed into law the Controlling the Assault of NonSolicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CANSPAM Act), which establishes a framework of administrative, civil, and criminal tools to help consumers, businesses, and families combat unsolicited commercial email. This law requires all commercial email messages to be identified as such and include an "optout" for recipients, prohibits commercial email that contains fraudulent headers or sexually explicit material, prohibits commercial email sent to addresses via an automated directory mechanism, and subjects civil and criminal penalties upon senders (spammers) who violate these terms.

Other Spam Law FAQs

Q: How Do Consumers And Families Benefit From This New Law?
A: While large businesses have routinely sued "spamvertisers" in court, individuals have had little recourse for compensation, monetary or otherwise. The … More
Q: Isnt Spam Just A Modern Form Of Telemarketing, Or Receiving Junk Mail In The Mailbox?
A: No. Unlike telemarketing calls or thirdclass mail, which generally comes from legitimate businesses, spam is largely fraudulent and is not paid for by the … More
Q: What About Spam Filtering, Or Just Using The "opt-Out" Link To Unsubscribe To Spam?
A: ISP's that adopt "black lists" in order to block email from proven spam generators is an effective strategy for filtering spam. The trouble with such … More
Q: I Keep Getting Spammed! What Should I Do?
A: There are a number of things you can do. First, contact your ISP provider and alert them of the problem. They will likely tell you to forward the junk … More

What Is Spam, And What Is The Anti-Spam Law?

Other Spam Law FAQs

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