CAN-SPAM new rules

In addition to SEO/SEM - I also handle the email marketing at our place. At SMX last week, someone called Matt Cutts (the head of Google's webspam team) the moral compass of the SEO industry. Well, I'm the moral compass of our email marketing. And as that - I do boring things like actually READ the CAN-SPAM legislation.

The FTC just (well, last month and in government circles that amounts to "just") approved a new rule provision.

The two big things I gleaned from this -

• You can't make it hard for folks to opt-out. And you can't require any information other than the email address to opt them out.
  
• A commercial e-mail send can now use a post office box or private mailbox to satisfy the "valid physical postal address" requirement.

The first point is good in my opinion. No one should have to give a reason for the opt-out unless they want to and I've seen that required on several commercial emails. And hey, it's not like we've been dating and I need to give a reason we're breaking up! That just comes across as desperation and bad manners.

Second point . . .not so much a good thing. To me allowing private mailboxes to meet the physical postal address requirement opens up another way for Spammers to hide. Hiding = not good in this gal's book.

There is a good bit more of the legal-speak in the link above. Any discussion or questions, comment and I'll do my best to translate the legalese for you!