CAN-SPAM

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (acronym for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003) officially came into law on January 1, 2004. The CAN-SPAM Act applies to almost all businesses in the US that use e-mail, and provides recipients of spam with the right to opt-out of these spam messages, and have their opt-out (or unsubscribe) request acted upon. Under the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, permission of the e-mail recipient is not required prior to sending out the e-mails, however if a recipient wants to unsubscribe or opt-out of the mailings then the business must stop sending the e-mails as per the opt-out request or face severe penalties.

In addition to enforcing an opt-out or unsubscribe system for recipients, the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 also prohibits some of the common spammer trickery such as; changing mail servers to send the spam, changing e-mail headers or the “from” e-mail address to hide the identity of the sender, and using deceptive subject heading.

Damages for non-compliance can result in the spammer facing fines of up to $250 per illegal e-mail message up to a maximum of $2 million or more if the offense includes certain aggravating violations. In situations involving e-mail deception, the penalty could be jail time.

Webopedia Staff
Webopedia Staff
Since 1995, more than 100 tech experts and researchers have kept Webopedia’s definitions, articles, and study guides up to date. For more information on current editorial staff, please visit our About page.
Get the Free Newsletter
Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
This email address is invalid.
Get the Free Newsletter
Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
This email address is invalid.

Related Articles

Complete List of Cybersecurity Acronyms

Cybersecurity news and best practices are full of acronyms and abbreviations. Without understanding what each one means, it's difficult to comprehend the significance of...

Human Resources Management System

A Human Resources Management System (HRMS) is a software application that supports many functions of a company's Human Resources department, including benefits administration, payroll,...

How To Defend Yourself Against Identity Theft

Almost every worldwide government agency responsible for identity theft issues will tell you the same thing: The first step to fighting identity theft is...

Infographic

An infographic is a visual representation of information or data. It combines the words information and graphic and includes a collection of imagery, charts,...

ScalaHosting

ScalaHosting is a leading managed hosting provider that offers secure, scalable, and affordable...

HRIS

Human resources information system (HRIS) solutions help businesses manage multiple facets of their...

Best Managed Service Providers...

In today's business world, managed services are more critical than ever. They can...