Out-Law News 1 min. read

Big Brother e-mail joke upsets advertising authority


Complaints over a joke e-mail sent by car magazine MaxPower have been upheld by the UK Advertising Standards Authority. The e-mail was a parody of an official document, entitled “OFFENCE NO 323 - INTERNET PERVERSION LEGAL DOCUMENT” and warned recipients that they had been caught breaching the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. It then linked to an advert for MaxPower.

The text of the e-mail, which plays on the wide-spread criticisms of the RIP Act, read:

We are sending this mail to inform you that you have been reported to this office for repeated infringements of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA). According to records obtained from your Internet Service Provider under the enforcement powers granted to this office, you have used your Internet connection to access material of a violent, sexually explicit or immoral nature on 42 separate occasions. This constitutes an explicit breach of the acceptable use guidelines laid down by the Act and you may therefore be liable to criminal prosecution.

Full details of the offences have been passed to your local police authority. If criminal proceedings result, you will shortly be informed of this in writing. If you wish to appeal these charges, application must be made to the RIPA office within seven days. Appellants may register their counterclaims online using the link below. Further details and a list of your statutory rights is also available on this page.

Some recipients objected that, by presenting the e-mail as an official document, the advertisement caused undue fear and distress. Emap, the publishers behind MaxPower, apologised for any offence caused by the e-mail. According to a statement by the ASA:

"[Emap] explained that the e-mail had been sent to 50,000 registered users of the Maxpower web site and all registered users had submitted their personal details to Maxpower.co.uk in return for access to products and services. They believed that their target audience of 18-to 25-year-old men was familiar with the brand values associated with Maxpower and thought those who received the e-mail would have realised that it was a practical joke."

Emap admitted that it might have misjudged the sensitivity of some of its readers but pointed out that of the 50,000 recipients of the e-mail, only seven had complained. Emap sent letters of apology to those who complained and removed their personal details from the mailing list on request.

The ASA acknowledged that recipients would understand the e-mail was a practical joke once they had followed the link. However, the ASA considered that “at first glance the e-mail misleadingly implied that it was an official document and could embarrass or distress recipients.” The Authority asked Emap to avoid such an approach in future and “welcomed their assurance that they would exercise caution in future e-mail marketing campaigns

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