What is Spam?

Spam is unsolicited email also known as UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email). By sending an email to only to those who have requested to receive it, you are following accepted permission-based email guidelines.

Take the Spam Test

1. Are you importing a purchased list of ANY kind?
2. Are you sending to non-specific addresses such as: sales@domain.com, business@domain.com, webmaster@domain.com, info@domain.com, or other general addresses?
3. Do you have any abuse@, postmaster@, or hostmaster@ domains on your list?
4. Are you sending to distribution lists or mailing lists which send indirectly to a variety of email addresses?
5. Are you mailing to anyone who has not explicitly agreed to join your mailing list?
6. Does your email’s subject line contain false or misleading information?

If you have answered yes to any of the above questions, you may be labelled as a spammer.

Examples of Spam

• Any e-mail message that is sent to recipients that have had no prior association with the organisation or did not agree to be e-mailed by the organisation is spam.
• Any e-mail message that is sent to a recipient who had previously signed up to receive newsletters, product information or any other type of bulk email but later opted-out (by indicating to the sender that they did not want to receive additional email) is spam.
• Any email message that promotes an adult website is spam, unless the recipient has specifically requested information from that website.
• Any email message that does not have a valid email address in the ‘From Line’ is spam.
• Any email message that contains any false or misleading information in the header, subject line or message itself is spam.
• Any e-mail message that is sent to a recipient without a way for a person to opt-out or request that future mailings not be sent to them, is spam.
• Any message that is sent to e-mail addresses that have been harvested off of websites, newsgroups, or other areas of the Internet is spam.

What is not Spam

• An e-mail message is NOT spam if the recipient in any way requested an email be sent to them from the sender or the sender’s organisation.
• Any time an organisation sends a mass e-mail message to one of its customers, it is NOT spam provided that the organisation offers a way for the customer to opt-out of future mailings and that the customer did not previously opt-out.
• An e-mail message is NOT spam when sent to recipients who agreed to receive information or promotions from a partner organisation (as long as there is a clear opt-out option).