Please note that we are not attorneys and we do not and will not provide legal advice regarding email laws or any other laws.

If you have questions about United States Federal and State email laws we recommend you contact an attorney familiar with those laws.

In 2003, Congress passed the "Controlling the Assault of Non-
Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003", or the "CANSPAM
Act of 2003" in response to consumer complaints about the growing problem of unsolicited email (spam).

The main provisions of the Act are as follows (from the FTC article Facts for Business, The CAN-SPAM Act: Requirements for Commercial Emailers):

• It bans false or misleading header information. Your email's "From," "To," and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person who initiated the email.
  
  
• It prohibits deceptive subject lines. The subject line cannot mislead the recipient about the contents or subject matter of the message.
  
  
• It requires that your email give recipients an opt-out method. You must provide a return email address or another Internet-based response mechanism that allows a recipient to ask you not to send future email messages to that email address, and you must honor the requests.
  
  
• It requires that commercial email be identified as an advertisement and include the sender's valid physical postal address. Your message must contain clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation and that the recipient can opt out of receiving more commercial email from you. It also must include your valid physical postal address.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) publishes various documents that assist consumers gain protection through the law. Its Rules and Acts document can be seen here.

As required by the CANSPAM, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted rules that prohibit sending unwanted commercial e-mail messages to wireless devices without prior permission. This ban took effect in March 2005. To see the FCCs "consumer facts" related to these rules, click here.

Additionally, several states have laws that restrict the use of unsolicited email.