Recently, I’ve been a victim of spam by several local businesses.? I am pretty sure these small local businesses are not really cognizant of the fact that they are, in fact, spamming.? Somehow these business got the email addresses from the local Chamber of Commerce and they must think its “okay”.? Its not okay- it is spam and most of them have been in violation of the FTC’s CAN-SPAM Act (U.S. law in effect since January 2004).

For those with “fuzzy” definitions of what spam is, here is a reality check.? The definition of spam:

spam noun?
electronic junk mail: an unsolicited, often commercial, message transmitted through the Internet as a mass mailing to a large number of recipients

to spam transitive and intransitive verb?
to send unwanted e-mail: to send an unsolicited e-mail message, often an advertisement, to many people

Are you a spammer?? When you send commercial or advertising?email are you following the CAN-SPAM legal requirements?? For more information on spam, and what you can do if you receive it, see the Federal Trade Commission’s website.