by John Glube, © 2004, all rights reserved of Head's Up - A
Copywriter's Journal

Sex and E-mail marketing - "Great, now you are going to tell us
to start marketing pornographic sites?"

Actually, no. But we can learn something from a recent public
notice issued by the FTC concerning adult marketing.

"What?" You say, with a smile.

"Hey, get, your mind out of the gutter."

"Ok, but seriously, what can we learn?"

Before getting to what we can learn, a bit of context. Recently,
the Commission issued the first of what will likely be a series
of notices calling for public comment on the proposed rules to
implement the Can Spam Act of 2003.

This one deals with the labeling requirement for adult content
commercial e-mail.

As you may recall sub-section 5 (d) of the Act requires warning
labels on commercial email containing sexually oriented material
which is sent without "affirmative consent" and instructs the
Commission in consultation with the Attorney-General to
prescribe the required mark or label.

(To read the relevant sections -
http://www.learnsteps4profit.com/antispamus.html)

The intention is to put a digital brown paper wrapper around
emails with adult content, sort of like when you buy Playboy,
Penthouse or Playgirl, (depending on your sex and inclination).

Although I understand you do not send out "adult content"
e-mail, we can learn a few things from the release, including:

* The process required to be followed by the Commission in
making rules.

* The nature of the types of comments the Commission is seeking.

* The importance of having "affirmative consent."

(For more information on the meaning of this phrase, you will
want to read The Federal Regulators Are Coming To Town -
http://www.learnsteps4profit.com/antispamfr.html and the related
article The Guys And Gals In Blue Have Spoken -
http://www.learnsteps4profit.com/antispamga.html. Do you market
within or into the EU? The Guys and Gals article also contains
links to useful references on the UK regulations.)

* The title of the release the "Adult Content Spam Rule" is very
instructive as to the view the Commission is going to take of
commercial e-mail sent without affirmative consent.

* The tie in with filtering technology to allow recipients to
block the messages is important to note.

Are you really into this "stuff?"

Then you will also want to know the EU is planning to have a
workshop on the issue of spam in early February.

(Hey, stop nodding off.)

In the interim, Brussels recently issued a comunique providing
an update on the implementation of the anti-spam rules in the
EU.

This update also puts forward some suggested changes to the
existing regulatory regime within the European Union.

You will find the link allowing you to upload this document on
the same page containing the FTC's press release.

You can read the press release online at:
http://www.learnsteps4profit.com/adult.html

This page also links to the PDF containing the actual public
register notice issued by the Commission.

Well, that's it for today. Trusting you found this information
of value.

John Glube, Publishes and Edits Head's Up, A Copywriter's
Journal. http://www.learnsteps4profit.com

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