As e-mail marketers prepare clients for the worst and continue self-regulation efforts, they're marshalling their forces to lobby Congress to sign one of two bills that will supersede California's tough new anti-spam law -- and leave the door open for third-party commercial e-mails.

The legislation spurring marketers to action is California's SB 186, which was signed into law at the end of September and goes into effect on January 1, 2004. The law totally bars the sending of unsolicited commercial e-mail to and from the state, and it allows individuals to sue not only someone who sends an unsolicited commercial e-mail, but also the advertiser on whose behalf it was sent. So, an over-enthusiastic or ethically-challenged affiliate marketer who harvested e-mail addresses off the Web and used them to send marketing messages touting an online retailer's specials could put that retailer in the way of a lawsuit. It defines unsolicited commercial e-mail as any commercial e-mail that a recipient hasn't given "direct consent" to receive from an advertiser. Read Article >> Posted by: DTB at 9:04 PM  |  Permalink