One of the main provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, which was enacted to curb the practices of spammers who send unsolicited email, revolves around the issue of identification. By law, companies that practice email marketing in the form of periodic newsletters and other communications for the purposes of generating revenue are required to identify themselves clearly in the email subject header. The following tips for proper identification are strongly encouraged.

• The “From” line of the email should never be in any way false or misleading. In other words, if the company sending the marketing email is an insurance company, they cannot have an email address that bears a deceptive similarity in name to a well known bank. While most legitimate email marketers would never dream of taking such measures, there are individuals and organizations known to send email marketing spam with misleading “From” lines intended to increase the likelihood of the recipient opening the message.
• The “Subject” line of the email message should likewise never be false or misleading. This is intended to put a stop to long held practices by spammers who send unsolicited bulk email messages that claim to be one thing, but are another entirely (for example, “Subject” lines that read “Hello from an old friend” but are actually promoting over-the-border prescription drugs).

Most of the laws in the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 were intended to drastically reduce the success rate of unsolicited email messages that prey on the unsuspecting. Few companies that utilize email to stay in contact with their mailing list of opt-in customers ever utilize these tactics, but can be penalized if they do.