Unsubscribe link, email spam and the US law

Is it true that by law in the US commercial emails must have an unsubscribe link??

Thanks

I am not aware that that is required if you have already agreed.


My newsletters include links that people can click to unsubscribe. That isn't required by the law; you just need a procedure that works.You may not send anything to the recipients more than 10 days after they opt-out.

Texas Tom

Incorrect, in the US the CAN-SPAM act of 2003 clarified the legal unsubscribe methods for commercial e-mail. It took effect on June 26, 2008 and it’s very important that those sending commercial e-mail make sure that they’re still in compliance with the ever changing law. Each violation can result in $11,000 in fines.

"an e-mail recipient cannot be required to pay a fee, provide information other than his or her e-mail address and opt-out preferences, or take any steps other than sending a reply e-mail message or visiting a single Internet Web page to opt out of receiving future e-mail from a sender"

Note that transactional e-mail messages to your clients where you have an existing ongoing relationship do not require an unsubscribe method at all. The law is very specific on what can be considered transactional information, but in general it is only e-mail regarding a transaction that the recipient initiated.

I agree with the poster above--that is the way we handle it according to our counsel here in Utah at least.