New Zealand Anti-Spam Legislation
This bill will affect you if you send out
promotional email messages or newsletters for your business.
The Unsolicited Electronic Messages Bill
or "Anti-Spam Bill" had its second reading in December last year. The Bill
aims to prohibit the sending of unsolicited electronic messages (in the form
of emails, text messages, or instant messages) and provide a legislative
basis to combat the growth of spam.
The Bill seeks to promote the responsible use of electronic messages by:
- prohibiting the sending of commercial electronic messages except
where the message is sent to people who have given their prior consent
to receiving those messages
- prohibiting promotional electronic messages, where the recipient has
indicated that she does not want to receive those messages
- requiring all electronic messages to identify the person authorising
the sending of the message and how that person may be contacted
- including a functional unsubscribe in an electronic message
- prohibiting the use of software to harvest electronic addresses, and
the use of harvested address lists
You can prepare now -
There are a couple of simple steps you can take
now, to prepare for the bill being
passed:
- When you collect email addresses from people, ask them if it's OK to
send them an email/newsletter/whatever it is you send
- If you are sending regular announcements/newsletters by email - make
it easy for people to unsubscribe
Why its worth doing
Carefully targeted, informative, timely email promotions still offer the
best return on investment. Compare:
- Email ROI per $1US spent: $51.45
- Print catalogs per $1US spent: $7.20
- Non-email Internet marketing: $21.08
Source: Direct Marketing Association Power of Direct Report October 2006
Relevant Links:
www.parliament.nz
beehive.govt.nz
© Spiral Web Design Limited
March 2007
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