Spam Gypsies: Internet Marketers Without A Valid Address

In a mobile society, some online marketers act like transients, moving from place to place at the drop of a hat.

For some, it is a matter of staying one step ahead of law enforcement or customer lawsuits. For others, it is the eternal quest for the ultimate guru to fill in the missing pieces. Others simply enjoy traveling. You’ll find them moving to different states — even traveling cross-country by RV and marketing on laptops at local coffee shops along the way.

Yet they have one thing in common. They’re breaking spam laws by using invalid physical mailing addresses.

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) requires commercial e-mailers to include a valid physical postal address so that subscribers have another way to opt out from lists and to identify the source of commercial e-mail.

Breaking this law can lead to fines of up to $11,000 per violation.

If you’ve moved, update your address. Of course, using a business address is preferred if you want to protect your privacy. Home addresses can lead to stalkers or worse. If you’re going on vacation, have someone regularly check your snail mail to ensure that any CAN SPAM complaints get timely handled.

Or you can ignore it all, hope the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) won’t go after you, and pay your Internet lawyer to clean up the mess if you get caught.

About the Author

With an advanced international law degree from Georgetown University and more than 15 years of real world legal experience, Attorney Mike Young is President of the Internet Ethics Council and creator of Website Legal Forms Generator software. He helps entrepreneurs protect and grow their businesses online.

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