Updated 26 April 2004

Email is essential to most business. In fact we can even say that email is the “killer application” for the Internet. Were it not for email, most of us probably wouldn’t have bothered getting connected to the net.

The attraction of email is that it is quick, cheap and easy. It is so cheap that bulk advertisers can send millions of junk emails, or spam, for almost nothing. Once upon a time spam was just a nuisance, but now over 60% of emails are spam and that is costing businesses time and money.

It always pays to be sceptical of estimates about computer costs. Various groups have estimated the business cost of spam from a few hundred dollars per year to thousands per year. Our own estimate is if we allow ten minutes spent each day deleting spam, then each of us wastes a week each year clearing our inboxes.

So spam does cost business, regardless of what statistics we use and we should be pleased that Canberra has taken steps to reduce spam. Unfortunately the new laws are prescriptive and expensive should you fall foul of them. To keep onside, there are three rules to obey.

1. Consent This is the most uncertain part of the new law. Some legal opinion is that just having your email address on your business card is enough to imply consent. Other opinion is that just because a customer has provided you with their email address it does not mean they have agreed to receive your emails.

The consensus of expert opinion is that it’s best to contact everybody on your email list and get them to confirm they want your emails. Look at it as an opportunity to clean up your mail lists.

In one respect this is the most difficult part of the spam act for businesses. Basically it robs us of the ability to use email as a means of reaching new customers. Sadly, the sheer level of spam in most people’s inboxes probably means email as marketing tool to new customers was devalued anyway.

2. Identify This one is easy. Your email has to clearly identify you or your business. As a legitimate business, you’ve always done this, haven’t you?

3. Unsubscribe All commercial emails must have an unsubscribe option. Include one at the end of your email. Either have a stand alone address to deal with unsubscribe requests or configure your list program to do it automatically.

Less than two percent of spam comes from Australia so the Spam Act isn’t going to have a great impact on the amount of rubbish that comes into our inboxes, but at least it is a start. Until countries like the United States, China and Korea start taking spam seriously, the deluge will continue. In the next few years, as spam declines as a profitable pursuit, we'll start to see it decline.