Re: circumventing any possible accusations

         About 30-35 states have some type of "anti-spam" law.  The laws 
vary from state to state; many of them require labeling in the subject line 
(such as "ADV" to indicate the e-mail is an advertisement); many (if not 
all) of them require the use of valid headers, non-misleading subject lines 
and valid opt-out instructions; and many of them require the inclusion of 
the sender's physical postal address, among other requirements.  I am not 
aware of any state anti-spam laws (though there may be some) that 
specifically exclude e-mail sent by not-for-profit entities.

         In any event, it sounds as if you should be looking into at least 
the following legal issues: (1) how to comply with anti-spam laws, and (2) 
how to avoid breaching any contract you may have with your "list-serve 
provider."  (It's certainly possible your provider could refuse to provide 
service even if you comply with all relevant laws.)

         (By the way, my website, GigaLaw.com, has just added 17 web-based 
discussion forums, including one dedicated just to the topic of spam and 
the law, in case you'd like to post this issue over there; the forums are 
at http://www.GigaLaw.com/forums .  Further, there are a number of articles 
about spam and the law on GigaLaw.com at 
http://www.gigalaw.com/articles/email-spam.html .)

Doug Isenberg
Attorney at Law
Editor & Publisher, GigaLaw.com (http://www.GigaLaw.com)


At 03:19 AM 10/17/2003, Susan Friesen wrote:
>Hi everyone,
>I am a part of a not-for-profit organization who regularly sends out
>e-broadcasts to their contact base. Most of these contacts are opt-in, but
>the current system is not very reliable on the opting-out part, and we do
>occasionally send e-broadcasts to those we think will be interested in
>participating in our program (www.investinakinderworld.com).
>
>Our list-serve provider warned us yesterday that they could shut us down
>without a moment's notice if any red flags come up where we are being
>accused of spamming. (Nothing has happened yet, but consider us warned just
>in case it ever does) We certainly don't want that to happen, but who knows
>if a disgruntled contact ends up reporting us for any given reason.
>
>My question is, is there any kind of disclaimer or opening statement that we
>could use explaining we are not-for-profit and are sending the emails with
>the best of intentions and as a courtesy to eligible recipients? Would this
>help us in any way to circumvent any SPAM rules where our provider could end
>up being shut down?
>
>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
>
>Kind regards,
>Susan
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Susan Friesen
>CIO & Web Master, KindActs Network Association of BC
>604-504-4242  or  604-515-5463
>Invest in a Kinder World Coin-spiracy Project:
>www.investinakinderworld.com
>www.kindacts.net
>www.kindness.ca

HTML: hwg-business mailing list archives, maintained by Webmasters @ IWA