What Does it Mean For You?

The federal government enacted a new law to regulate spam - defined as unwanted commercial email messages – called "Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003" ("CANSPAM"). In its findings, Congress said "[t]he convenience and efficiency of electronic mail are threatened by the extremely rapid growth in the volume of unsolicited commercial electronic mail. Unsolicited commercial electronic mail is currently estimated to account for over half of all electronic mail traffic, up from an estimated 7 percent in 2001, and the volume continues to rise. Most of these messages are fraudulent and deceptive in one or more respects."

Because the definition of "commercial electronic mail," includes both solicited and unsolicited email, the new regulations apply to all commercial email. Under such definition, a commercial electronic mail message's "primary purpose" is for the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service (including