What Is The Can-SPAM Act?

The CAN-SPAM Act is the United States’ first established national standards for the proper sending of commercial e-mail. The anti-spam act requires that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces its provisions.

Spam is usually defined as unsolicited email. But, it also includes other electronic modes of unsolicited information, including: instant messaging, Usenet newsgroups, Web search engines, blogs, wiki spam, online classified ads, mobile phone messaging, Internet forums, fax transmissions, social networking, and file sharing networks.

For the purposes of the CAN-SPAM Act, spam is defined as "any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service (including content on an Internet website operated for a commercial purpose)."

The following is prohibited under the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 :

• An email message cannot be sent through an open relay. An open relay is an email server configured in a way that allows anyone on the Internet to send e-mail through it.
•  A message cannot be sent to a harvested email address. E-mail harvesting is the process of obtaining e-mail addresses using various methods for use in bulk e-mail, usually as spam. This can be done by improper email list exchanges, or even using software that scours the Internet for emails.
•  A message cannot contain a false header. Falsifying an email header is a serious offense that can bring an investigation from multiple anti-spam agents, including those employed by the Federal Trade Commission, FBI and the Department of Justice.

Anti-Spam Advocates Trash Junk-Email Legislation
Many anti-spam advocates reacted with dismay when the CAN-SPAM Act was passed. In fact, it has been mocked as the "YOU-CAN-SPAM" Act. And convicted felon Alan Ralsky, known for his activities as a spammer, told reporters that the passage of the bill "made my day."

Anti-spam advocates almost immediately claimed that the legislation made it legal for spammers to proceed with their underhanded business. They claimed that businesses could still send spam to every U.S. email address, as long as they give users a way to opt-out.

However, their worries were at least partly proven false, as on June 22, 2009 the so-called “spam king” Alan Ralsky pleaded guilty to charges of illegal spamming. In a plea deal, Ralsky agreed to help the U.S. government snag other e-mail spammers in exchange for a possibl