Transcript Virginia State Bar Corporate Council Section Update on Do

Virginia State Bar Annual Meeting
Corporate Counsel Section
Update on Do Not Call & Spam
Michael Goodman
Federal Trade Commission
www.ftc.gov
FTC Basics
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The FTC is the nation’s only general
jurisdiction consumer protection agency
FTC Act: Section 5 prohibits unfair or
deceptive business practices
Unlike many federal agencies, we have
authority to file our own cases in federal
district court
Federal Trade Commission
Telemarketing Sales Rule
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2003 amendments
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Creation of National Do Not Call Registry
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Caller ID transmission
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Abandoned calls/ Predictive dialers
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New coverage of calls on behalf of charities
Federal Trade Commission
National Do Not Call Registry - I
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The Basics
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Creation
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Litigation
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Compliance
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Jurisdiction
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Enforcement
Federal Trade Commission
National Do Not Call Registry - II
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Registry Details
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Fees
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Safe Harbor update
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Data Sharing
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Established Business Relationships & other
exceptions
Federal Trade Commission
CAN-SPAM Act of 2003
(“Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited
Pornography and Marketing Act”)
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Effective date: January 1, 2004
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Creates civil and criminal violations
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Enforced by federal and state law
enforcement and ISPs
Directs FTC to write rules and reports
Federal Trade Commission
CAN-SPAM Act: New Civil Violations
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False or misleading header information
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Deceptive subject lines
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Failure to provide an opt-out method and honor
opt-out requests
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Failure to include:
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Identification that the message is an advertisement
Sender’s valid physical postal address
For “sexually oriented” messages:
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Failure to include warning label (established by FTC)
Failure to require additional steps to view material
after opening message
Federal Trade Commission
CAN-SPAM Act: New Rules
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FTC CAN-SPAM Rulemaking
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“Commerical email message”
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“Transactional or relationship message”
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Aggravated violations
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10-business-day opt out
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General rulemaking authority
Federal Trade Commission
CAN-SPAM Act: New Reports
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Reports
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Do-Not-Email Registry: Authorized, but not
required
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Reward system to promote enforcement
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Labeling of all commercial email
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Effectiveness report to Congress
Federal Trade Commission