SPAM Act

On December 16, 2003, President Bush signed into law the "CAN-SPAM ACT". The act creates a single national standard designed to control the growing problem of deceptive or fraudulent commercial e-mail.

This legislation was largely sought by retailers, marketers and Internet account providers seeking a single set of rules that would apply nationwide and preempt 35 state spam laws.

The Act does not ban commercial e-mails but rather outlines a series of practices that must be followed when sending commercial e-mails. The Act does ban certain fraudulent or deceptive practices and criminalizes techniques used by spammers to avoid detection.

Read more from the Q & A from NAR by Jerry Giovaniello, Gary Weaver and Marcia Salkin (88k)
View NAR's Field Guide to Do-Not-Call, Do-Not-Fax and Do-Not-Email Laws