The Can-Spam law is rearing its ugly head for a Hoodia affiliate out of Las Vegas, Sili Neutraceuticals. The complaint filed against them states that they were using misleading subject lines and falsely advertised the product, stating that Hoodia and growth hormone could make an individual lose 40 lbs a month. That seems to be a lot of weight to lose in a single month, unless the person is so obese to begin with. They are being hit with $2.6 million fine by the FTC.
Anyways, this will be the largest fine the FTC collects over Can-Spam as the HiTech Marketing fine was larger on paper, but they were only able to pay $485,000. It looks like the FTC is going to be more active regulating the Can-Spam law, but I would recommend they rewrite it first, as there is a lot of grey area and everyone seems to have a different view on what you can and can’t do. Obviously there are best practices that most corporate marketers take, but the affiliate/co-reg marketers like HiTech and Sili Neutraceuticals use mass email as their marketing medium and there is not a lot of regulation on this.
Hopefully we will see more spammers fined, but ultimately, I would like to see the Can-Spam law more solidified and easier to understand.
Tags: Can-Spam, Email marketing, Sili Neutraceuticals, spamming
