SPAM - Part 3

Once you have determined that the e-mail you have received qualifies as 'spam', the next step is to determine if there has been a violation of the CAN-SPAM act.

 

Some of the violations involve fraud and related activity, such as someone who knowingly or conspires to:

 

1) Access your and/or another person's computer without authorization and sending the 'spam' messages from the unauthorized computer(s).

 

2) Send a 'spam' message with the intent to deceive or mislead recipients or any Internet access service as to the origin of such messages,

 

3) Falsify header information in the 'spam' message,

 

4) Use false identities for five (5) or more e-mail / online user accounts or two (2) or more domain names and intentionally sending the 'spam' messages from any combination of such accounts or domain names, or

 

5) Falsely representing themselves to be the registrant or the legitimate successor in interest to the registrant of five (5) or more IP addresses and sending ore-mail from such addresses.

SPAM - Part 2

For futher clarification on what is NOT spam . . . it is NOT a transactional or relationship message with the primary purpose of which is—

 

(i) to facilitate, complete, or confirm a commercial transaction that the recipient has previously agreed to enter into with the sender;

 

(ii) to provide warranty information, product recall information, or safety or security information with respect to a commercial product or service used or purchased by the recipient;

 

(iii) to provide—
     (I) notification concerning a change in the terms or features of;
    (II) notification of a change in the recipient's standing or status with respect to; or

    (III) at regular periodic intervals, account balance information or other type of account statement with respect to, a subscription, membership, account, loan, or comparable ongoing commercial relationship involving the ongoing purchase or use by the recipient of products or services offered by the sender;

 

(iv) to provide information directly related to an employment relationship or related benefit plan in which the recipient is currently involved, participating, or enrolled; or

 

(v) to deliver goods or services, including product updates or upgrades, that the recipient is entitled to receive under the terms of a transaction that the recipient has previously agreed to enter into with the sender.

SPAM - Part 1

To be considered spam, one of the criteria is that the message is transmitted by electronic mail with the primary purpose being a commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service (including content on an Internet website operated for a commercial purpose).

This does NOT include a transactional or relationship message, such as one you would receive from a company where you have purchased and/or used services.

 

So, if you have recently signed up for a service and/or previously signed up for a service, you may still be getting e-mail from the company and it would not be considered spam. Most likely they informed you via their online terms of service that they would send you messages as a result of your service request.

SPAM

The next series of posts will deal with identifying spam messages, which may allow you to have your Internet service provider pursue the spammer under the CAN-SPAM act. There are several criteria that determine whether a message is classified as spam in your inbox and then, if classified as spam, there is additional criteria to determine whether the message violates the rules in the CAN-SPAM act.

Can Spam

If you are tired of getting spam in your inbox, you may want to contact your internet provider, registrar, hosting company, or other internet service provider to see if they can help you block certain messages. Check to see if the messages are CAN-SPAM compliant. If not, you may want to contact the registrar of the domain name and ask them to look into the activities of their customer.