The new updates to the federal CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing) Act of 2003 are now in effect. The rules, which we’ve gone over in detail in a previous post, include changes to the unsubscribe (also known as opt-out) requirements, the definition of “sender” and allow commercial email senders to use a P.O. Box as their physical address. The updated law now will also require non-profits to comply with the requirements. Any commercial sender who does not faces stiff penalties.

The act does not apply to emails regarding customer purchases or to “relationship” messages-in other words to emails sent to recipients you company is or has done business with. It’s a good idea to get a copy of the updated act and go over it with both your marketing and legal departments. The time it takes to do this and be absolutely sure your business is compliant could spare you a lot of headaches and bad PR later!