[IP] "Permission-based email marketers" confused about CAN SPAM law [sp]
Delivered-To: dfarber+@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 10:42:17 -0500
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@xxxxxxxx>
From: "Rochelle" <Rochelle@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Editorial Dept. \(Editorial Dept.\)" <rochelle@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: CAN-SPAM Law Sows Confusion Among Legitimate Emailers, New
EmailLabs Audit Finds
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 15:15:20 -0800
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Rochelle Srigley
Edge Communications, Inc.
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For Immediate Release
CONFUSION REIGNS AS PERMISSION-BASED EMAIL MARKETERS
COMPLY WITH SOME REQUIREMENTS OF CAN-SPAM LAW BUT NOT OTHERS,
EMAILLABS BENCHMARK AUDIT REVEALS
Informal Survey of 100 Major Email Marketers Shows Administrative
Complexities Slowing Compliance as Legitimate Marketers Weigh New Best
Practices
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (January 27, 2004) In the wake of the new federal
CAN-SPAM law, EmailLabs, a leading provider of email marketing automation
solutions, today reported that a majority of permission marketers are
exceeding most requirements of the Act, but remain confused over
administrative aspects of the law.
In a new benchmark audit of 100+ major email marketers, 95 percent include
an unsubscribe process, as mandated by the law. At the same time, just 56
percent were in compliance with one of the simplest aspects of CAN-SPAM
the new requirement to add a postal mailing address. The informal survey
will be replicated later in Q1, to determine changes in compliance patterns.
?The bare majority complying with the postal address
requirement appears to indicate that many legitimate email marketers are
confused by CAN-SPAM, don?t understand the requirement and/or simply
haven't gotten around to it,? said Loren McDonald, Vice President of
Marketing, EmailLabs. ?Most major permission-based email marketers do
already adhere to best practices, and have long been doing what the law now
requires, but many are clearly confused by the nuances and gray areas of
the law.
?From a broader perspective, one potential benefit of CAN-SPAM and the
intense focus on unsolicited email is that ?unintentional spammers? --
those legitimate companies who have not followed email marketing best
practices -- may begin adopting permission practices and go well beyond
just complying with CAN-SPAM,? McDonald said. ?Even if the Act doesn?t
stop fraudulent and annoying spam, it may raise the standards of what is
considered good permission email practices.?
The federal CAN-SPAM law took effect on January 1, and is
intended to curb the proliferation of unsolicited emails. CAN-SPAM contains
requirements that must be met by all mailers whether an email message is
unsolicited or permission based. Companies sending unsolicited emails must
include a clear notice that the message being sent is an advertisement or
solicitation, among other requirements.
Conducted from Jan. 1-Jan. 15, the EmailLabs audit evaluated 104 emails
from some of the nation?s largest online retailers, media and publishing
companies, along with Fortune 500 enterprises. Fifty-seven percent of the
sample consisted of newsletters and 29 percent of appeals from online
retailers; another 18 percent of emails were classified as ?corporate? in
nature. Emails were obtained randomly from employees who had opted-in to
receive these emails.
In terms of strict CAN-SPAM compliance, 56 percent of the sample included
postal addresses and more than 95 percent provided an unsubscribe
mechanism. None of the emails reviewed appeared to contain misleading
subject lines or other fraudulent practices employed by spammers. Among the
multiple methods to unsubscribe, 87 percent offered a link, 22 percent an
email reply and 11 percent notification by phone or mail.
Although not mandated by CAN-SPAM, 54 percent enabled recipients to update
their preferences, 40 percent each explained why the email was received and
supplied complete contact information (address, phone, email), and 37.5
percent referenced a privacy policy.
The EmailLabs audit is not intended to represent a
statistically valid sample of all permission-based emails sent in the U.S.,
but is instead an analysis of a random sample of opt-in emails to which
consumers and businesspeople might subscribe.
The audit of permission emails is in sharp contrast to other findings on
initial CAN-SPAM compliance of unsolicited commercial email. Email
security firm MX Logic found that among a random sample of more than1,000
unsolicited commercial emails received during the first week of the year,
just three complied with the CAN-SPAM law. Audiotrieve, a Boxborough, Mass.
maker of anti-spam filtering tools, found in its recent analysis of 1,000
"junk" emails that only 102 met all the CAN-SPAM Act requirements.
EmailLabs Offers Compliance Assistance
?CAN-SPAM -- and the surrounding buzz around permission email marketing --
has clearly helped distinguish the difference between trusted/legitimate
permission emails, emails that are not fraudulent but are unsolicited or
sent by companies with poor permission practices, and plainly fraudulent,
pornographic or offensive unsolicited spam emails,? McDonald said.
To help ensure that clients are in compliance with the law, EmailLabs has
added a new Mailing Address Footer feature to its core hosted software. The
mailing address footer is automatically included at the bottom of all email
messages sent to any of the customer?s mailing lists. The EmailLabs
application already enables compliance with many of the Act?s other
requirements, including ensuring that the unsubscribe mechanism adheres
precisely to a recipient?s subscription preferences. The company has also
made available a CAN-SPAM legal brief from the law firm of Dow, Lohnes &
Alberston PLLC, at http://www.emaillabs.com/resources_tools.html.
?Unsolicited email has been legalized by CAN-SPAM, and regardless of
whether the law increases or decreases spam, for legitimate email marketers
there is only one choice -- taking the permission high road,? said
McDonald. ?Doing anything else will damage your brand and bottom line.?
About EmailLabs
EmailLabs is a leading provider of advanced email technology solutions to
agencies, publishers and marketing, sales and customer service departments
of middle-market and Global 2000 companies. The EmailLabs email-marketing
platform is provided as an ASP (Web-based) service, and is easily
customized and integrated with a company's Web site, sales force automation
and CRM technologies. The company provides email-marketing solutions to
more than 275 companies, including Nokia, Agilent, AON, Jupitermedia and
Silicon Valley Bank. Headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., EmailLabs is a
service of Uptilt, Inc. Uptilt is privately held and profitable. For more
information, visit www.EmailLabs.com.
Contacts:
Loren McDonald
EmailLabs
650.569.3939 925.202.5976 cell
loren@xxxxxxxxxx
Ken Greenberg
Edge Communications, Inc.
818.719.9292
ken@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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