As we work with clients to help them with their email campaigns, this question comes up again and again. What is Can Spam ? It was a law passed in the United States congress which only applies to residents of the United States. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 establishes the United States' first national standards for the sending of commercial e-mail and requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce its provisions. The acronym CAN-SPAM derives from the bill's full name: Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003.

Does Canada have any anti-spam legislation? Sadly, no. Bill C-27 died on the order paper when Stephen Harper's government prorogued parliament in December 2008. That's not to say professional agencies and marketers in Canada don't act with a best practices model in place. It's a given that every email that goes out has an option for the reader to unsubscribe. More best practices in upcoming blogs.