Mon 3 Sep 2007
As of the 5th of September the new Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 will come into effect. Under this Act a business found to be sending spam could face a penalty of up to $500,000.
A message can be deemed as spam if it is electronic, commercial, and unsolicited. Even sending a single email can count as spamming.
In order to ensure you comply with this law there are three things you must do for all your electronic commercial messages:
- Gain consent. This can be either express consent e.g. given when filling out a form, Inferred consent e.g. Swapping business cards, or deemed consent e.g. when someone conspicuously published their work related email address and the message you are sending relates to the recipients business. You may already have consent with the people you are emailing but if you are unsure you may want to check.
- Include your business name and contact information. All your electronic commercial messages must include your company name and correct contact information.
- Offer a unsubscribe option. If you are sending commercial electronic messages on a regular basis e.g. a business newsletter, they must contain a functioning unsubscribe facility that is of no cost to the person unsubscribing. You must also honour a requisite to unsubscribe within five working days.
If you would like more information on the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 click here to download The Department of Internal affairs six page guide to the Act.