Electronic Marketing's Internet Twist: Use E-Mail, Not Faxes Or Texts

The name of the CAN-SPAM Act scares some people. They think it severely regulates, or maybe even prohibits, e-mail marketing. In a somewhat surprising twist of Internet law, however, e-mail marketing is less heavily regulated than several other methods of electronic marketing.

First, let's dispel the threat from the CAN-SPAM title (long version: Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003). Although the title suggests an intent to restrict e-mail marketing, the marketing industry actually advocated for the bill, to create a uniform federal standard in lieu of more restrictive California rules that would have otherwise set the de facto national standard.