FireDrum Interactive strives to ensure that all of our Email marketing programs comply with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 . We believe that maintenance of a totally ethical and customer friendly Email program is in the best interests of FireDrum, our customers and their Email club members

To ensure that the law can be more easily understood we have provided the following explanation of it:

Signed into law by President Bush in December 2003, the act establishes national standards for the sending of commercial Email and requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce its provisions. The bill's full name apparently is an acronym for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003.

It also requires the FTC to promulgate rules to shield consumers from unwanted mobile service commercial messages.

The bill permits Email marketers to send unsolicited commercial Email so long as it contains all of the following:

It also prohibits the sale or other transfer of an Email address obtained through an opt-out request. In addition, it prohibits the use of automated means to register for multiple Email accounts from which to send Spam. It also prohibits sending sexually oriented Spam without provision of clear subject-line notice.

The measure pre-empts existing state anti- Spam laws, and makes it a misdemeanor to send Spam with misleading header information. It also sets out civil penalties for a host of other common Spamming practices that are used to obtain Email addresses, including harvesting, dictionary attacks, Internet protocol spoofing, hijacking computers through Trojan horses or worms, or using open mail relays for the purpose of
sending Spam.

It allows the FTC to introduce a national "do-not- Spam" list similar to the FTC's do-not-call registry, or to report back to the Congress why the creation of such a list is not currently feasible. This was in response to testimony by the FTC at a Senate hearing that a "do-not-spam" list raises significant technical, security and privacy questions. Some have raised concerns that such a list would simply be used by Spammers for targeting, particularly if the Spammers are not located in the US.

The legislation does not allow Email recipients to sue Spammers, but does not prohibit the FTC, state attorneys general, and Internet service providers from doing so. In the past, Spammers have been sued under state law.

Senator John McCain, R,.AZ, is responsible for a last-minute amendment which makes businesses promoted through Spam subject to FTC penalties and enforcement remedies, regardless of whether the FTC is able to identify the specific Spammer who initiated the Email.