Anti-Spam Act Ignored, Ridiculed?


Well, here’s a sorry state of affairs:

  • The newly passed Anti-Spam Act in the United States is being universally ignored, according to one survey.
  • The Act is being almost ridiculed in some quarters as being ineffective at best, and at worst giving “spam gangs” a cloak of legitimacy.

According to the Spamhaus Project, 90% of spam received in North America and Europe comes from a hard-core group of 200 spam outfits. The vast majority of spam you receive in your inbox is NOT coming from legitimate companies trying to sell their products — it’s from this “Gang of 200.” If that’s accurate, then the Anti-Spam Act has just added an unnecessary regulatory burden to legitimate businesses in the U.S. who were not the problem in the first place.

But never fear. In typical American entrepreneurial fashion, the Anti-Spam Act could be a boon for some small businesses, including (1) companies offering services that will be of much more practical use than the new law to help filter out spam, and (2) service providers such as marketing consultants and lawyers offering to help the legitimate marketers comply with the new law.

1 Comment ▼

Anita Campbell Anita Campbell is the Founder, CEO and Publisher of Small Business Trends and has been following trends in small businesses since 2003. She is the owner of BizSugar, a social media site for small businesses.

One Reaction
  1. No wonder the law doesn’t work. After all, it’s called the “CAN-SPAM” Act. What else are people supposed to think? It’s a license to spam. “Yes, You Can Spam” is the implicit message. It’s like the Chevy Nova of the 1990s that wouldn;t sell in Mexico because Nove means “no va” (it doesn’t go) in Spanish!