Illegal Spam

Truth About SPAM laws in the USA

Salespeople (and Chat Boxes) almost always get it totally wrong about spam being illegal in the USA.

It is NOT illegal to send unsolicited EMAIL offers … but only an idiot will try to fool the public with any fraudulent or deceitful offers.

THE MAIN OBJECTIVE of the Can Spam Act  is to prevent fraudulent or deceitful offers. Too bad it does not apply to politicians … but that is another battlefield.

In fact … according to the Can Spam Act … SPAM (i.e., commercial email) is NOT illegal in the USA … but any type of email fraud IS illegal! However, to be clear, email recipients must have the options to opt-in and/or unsubscribe at any time in any initial or subsequent emails.

Any email communication that is shown to be deceitful, fraudulent, or deceitful in any way … IS ILLEGAL! … and that absolutely applies to emails sent to single – or double – opt-in emails. Getting an opted-in email does not in any way open the door for marketers to send any type of email they wish. Plus, they are still bound by any email recipient’s request to be unsubscribed.

However, only a fool would violate the rules and guidelines set forth in the Can Spam Act … because there can be some severe penalties for attempts to deceive and defraud the public.

The judicial system knows that there are some legitimate, helpful offers that the public would not otherwise discover  without receiving “cold email” advertising from advertisers who find them.

It is NOT the business of government to restrict the free flow of legitimate information … and opportunity … between businesses and potential customers.

Here is a simple analogy. If a business sends an email offer to customers who can buy a goose that lays golden eggs … that is fine … but NOT if the goose lays rotten eggs when it arrives. That is a fraudulent deception.

Here is a very nice link with simple explanations about spam and cold emails (by Derek Smith). I highly recommend that email senders review this article … because there are too many uneducated salespeople who constantly get it wrong when asked about US Can-Spam policies.

It is totally wrong to tell a potential customer (i.e., sender) that ANY type of unsolicited email is illegal … and that such emails are categorically illegal SPAM.

THAT is ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE … that any type of unsolicited email is wrong … because that is NOT true.  A careful reading of the Can Spam Act reveals that any type of email is actually considered as spam (but not actually illegal) … whether opted-in or not.

But … emails designed to trick or deceive a potential customer ARE ALWAYS WRONG and ALWAYS ILLEGAL SPAM.

And … no matter how truthful and sincere an email marketer is … the intended recipient may not like golden eggs, golden omelets, and may be allergic goose feathers.

Always tell the email recipient who you are, where you are, and how to unsubscribe from any of your future emails.

See also:  LEGAL  page on this website.