'Porn spam must be labelled as such': FTC

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

This story was printed from silicon.com, located at 
<http://www.silicon.com>http://www.silicon.com
[]

Story URL: 
<http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/thespamreport/0,39025001,39119946,00.htm>http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/thespamreport/0,39025001,39119946,00.htm 

[]

'Porn spam must be labelled as such': FTC
<mailto:editorial () silicon com>Reuters
Reuters
April 14, 2004

Pornographic spam will have to contain a warning in the subject line so 
internet users can easily filter it out, according to a ruling by the US 
Federal Trade Commission.

Starting from 19 May, sexually explicit email will have to bear a label 
reading "Sexually-Explicit:" and the messages themselves will not be 
allowed to contain graphic material, the FTC said.

Outrage over unsolicited pornography and other forms of junk email spurred 
Congress to pass the first nationwide anti-spam law last year, which 
required the FTC to develop labels for smut.

An FTC study released last spring found that 17 per cent of pornographic 
offers contained images of nudity that appeared whether a recipient wanted 
to see them or not.

The new rule is intended to change that. Pornographers will not be allowed 
to include sexually explicit pictures in the body of the message, though 
they will be allowed to include hyperlinks or other methods to access their 
material.

Like other email marketers, they will also have to include their postal 
address and an easy way for recipients to opt out of future mailings.

The FTC proposed in January that pornographic messages be labelled 
"Sexually-Explicit-Content:" but shortened the label in its final order to 
take up less space in the subject line.

Marketers will not be allowed to use explicit phrases in the subject line, 
the FTC said.

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