level 17 chap 2

Commercial advertisements and emails can NOT:

Send undesired commercial messages to a customer's email or wireless device Have misleading header content Have misleading subject content

There are also violations that garner additional fines. The FTC provides the following for criminal penalties, (including imprisonment) for:

Accessing someone else's computer to send spam without permission Using false information to register for multiple email accounts or domain names Relaying or retransmitting multiple spam messages through a computer to mislead others about the origin of the message Harvesting email addresses or generating them through a dictionary attack A dictionary attack is the practice of sending email to addresses made up of random letters and numbers in the hope of reaching valid ones.

Let's start with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). This act, as you probably already guessed, acts to protect consumers and their telephones. It regulates communication advertising and applies to:

Autodialers Fax machines Voice messaging systems

This is what the FTC has to say about CAN-SPAM violations:

Each separate email in violation of the law is subject to penalties of up to $41,484. More than one person may be held responsible for violations. For example, both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that originated the message may be legally responsible. Email that makes misleading claims about products or services also may be subject to laws outlawing deceptive advertising.

It should also be noted that CAN-SPAM specifically addresses sexually explicit emails. The Act states that:

Messages with sexually oriented material must include the warning "SEXUALLY-EXPLICIT:" at the beginning of the subject line. There must be the electronic equivalent of a "brown paper wrapper" in the body of the message.

Affiliated Business Arrangement Restrictions In order to operate within the RESPA regulations, an affiliated business arrangement must:

Provide consumers with written disclosure of the affiliation Provide consumers with estimated charges for provided services Communicate to consumers that they are free to obtain services elsewhere Refrain from charging or paying referral fees among the subsidiary companies

The TCPA mandates that telemarketing callers MUST do the following:

Say who they are Hi, I'm Crystal Shan DeLier. Say for whom they are calling I am an agent for Lit Realty. Say how they can be contacted You can reach me at (608) 123-1234. And, of course, callers MUST remove all customers from their call list if asked to do so.

Passed in 2003, the CAN-SPAM Act was created to govern the use of commercial email advertising and does all of the following:

Sets standards and regulations for business use of email Gives recipients the right to refuse email Sets tough penalties for businesses who violate its standards.

The Do Not Call registry is regulated by:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Commercial messages MUST include:

The option to "opt out" or unsubscribe from the messages Opt out requests must be honored within 10 business days A valid physical postal address for the sender Something that identifies the message as an advertisement At least one sentence of relevant content

This is why sexually explicit emails should be covered in a virtual "brown paper wrapper." This means that when a recipient opens the message, the only things that may be viewable on the recipient's screen are:

The words "SEXUALLY-EXPLICIT:" The same information required in any other commercial email A disclosure that the message is an ad The sender's physical postal address The option to opt out

Well, the TCPA mandates a Do Not Call Registry that regulates telemarketing calls

from commercial organizations (such as brokerages). They also limit calling hours to between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. (according to the local time).