The CAN-SPAM Act: New rules for sending commercial e-mail messages and implications for the sales force [An article from: Industrial Marketing Management]

This digital document is a journal article from Industrial Marketing Management, published by Elsevier in 2005. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
The CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing) Act significantly modifies the legal understanding of spam, offers important protections for consumers and, at the same time, holds the company primarily responsible for e-mail sent by salespeople on its behalf. This new law prohibits deceptive headings, using e-mail addresses obtained illegally, requires senders to have a working unsubscribe system, assesses liability, and criminalizes certain types of e-mail actions. Statutory damages are ascribed at up to US$2 million for violations, tripled to US$6 million for intentional violations with unlimited damages for fraud and abuse. Since commercial e-mail messages have become such a vital medium of communication for salespeople, it becomes imperative that sales strategies comply with and benefit from this new regulation. Therefore, this paper serves to clarify the implications of the CAN-SPAM Act for salespeople and sales managers. Specific managerial guidance on how the sales force can comply with this law is provided.