On July 7, new regulations of the Federal Trade Commission, FTC’s, CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) will be effective. Here are the 4 topics concerning the work of email marketers:

(1) an e-mail recipient cannot be required to pay a fee, provide information other than his or her e-mail address and opt-out preferences, or take any steps other than sending a reply e-mail message or visiting a single Internet Web page to opt out of receiving future e-mail from a sender;

(2) the definition of “sender” was modified to make it easier to determine which of multiple parties advertising in a single e-mail message is responsible for complying with the Act’s opt-out requirements;

(3) a “sender” of commercial e-mail can include an accurately-registered post office box or private mailbox established under United States Postal Service regulations to satisfy the Act’s requirement that a commercial e-mail display a “valid physical postal address”;

(4) a definition of the term “person” was added to clarify that CAN-SPAM’s obligations are not limited to natural persons.

Here is an informative article summarizing the new policies and offering advices on how to make sure you’re complying with these new rules : How to make sure your email is legal.