E-marketing guidelines from US advertising groups

It comes only a week after the US Association for Interactive Marketing (AIM) released similar guidelines. Both sets are recommendations only, and cannot be enforced.

The AAAA/ANA/DMA guidelines state:

1. The subject line of an e-mail must be honest and not misleading or deceptive.
2. A valid return e-mail address and the physical address of the sender should be clearly identified. Marketers are encouraged to use their company or brand names in their domain address and prominently throughout the message.
3. An e-mail should clearly identify the sender and the subject matter at the beginning of the e-mail.
4. All commercial e-mail (except for billing purposes) must provide consumers with a clear and conspicuous electronic option to be removed from lists for future e-mail messages from the sender. The removal process must be easy to find and easy to use.
5. If a company sending commercial e-mail has multiple distinct brands or affiliates, notice and opt-out should be provided based on the likely perspective of the average consumer. Each separate brand or affiliate, as the consumer is likely to perceive it, must offer notice and a process for removal from marketing lists in all commercial e-mails (except for billing purposes).
6. Marketers should not acquire e-mail addresses surreptitiously through automated mechanisms (such as robots or spiders) without the consumer/customer's informed consent. This includes a prohibition on dictionary attacks or other mechanisms for fabricating e-mail addresses without providing notice and choice to the consumer.
7. "Remove" means "Remove." The electronic remove feature must be reliable, functional, and prompt.
8. E-mail lists must not be sold or provided to unrelated third parties unless the owner of the list has provided notice and the ability to be removed from such transfer to each e-mail address on the list. Related third parties include other brands/subsidiaries within the same parent company as well as outside affinity partners as a reasonable consumer is likely to perceive them.
9. A commercial e-mail should contain the sender's privacy policy, either within the body of the e-mail or via a link.

"Today's landmark announcement reflects our shared belief that stamping out spam requires a multi-pronged approach," said Burtch Drake, President and CEO of the AAAA.

All three organisations called for federal legislation as "a critical necessity in the fight against spam," and urged Congress to move forward quickly to enact "a single national law that will clearly delineate legitimate commercial e-mail from unlawful spam."