Saturday, August 13, 2005
CAN-SPAM or Cannot, That Is the Question
The University of Texas didn't violate the constitutional rights of an online dating service when it blocked thousands of unsolicited e-mails, a federal appeals court panel ruled yesterday.
White Buffalo Ventures, which operates the dating site LonghornSingles.com, had appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, saying it had complied with all anti-spam laws. Right to Send Unsolicited E-Mail The company argued that the university violated its constitutional rights by filtering out 59,000 e-mails in 2003. White Buffalo also claimed a federal act that allows certain e-mails superseded the university's anti-spam policy. The 5th Circuit panel found that the federal anti-spam law, CAN-SPAM , does not pre-empt the university's policy and that the policy is permissible under the First Amendment. The law requires messages to have a title that correctly states the contents of the e-mail, a valid address and that companies honor requests to unsubscribe. The court did not need to rule on whether the state university e-mail servers are public or private.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
White Buffalo Ventures, which operates the dating site LonghornSingles.com, had appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, saying it had complied with all anti-spam laws. Right to Send Unsolicited E-Mail The company argued that the university violated its constitutional rights by filtering out 59,000 e-mails in 2003. White Buffalo also claimed a federal act that allows certain e-mails superseded the university's anti-spam policy. The 5th Circuit panel found that the federal anti-spam law, CAN-SPAM , does not pre-empt the university's policy and that the policy is permissible under the First Amendment. The law requires messages to have a title that correctly states the contents of the e-mail, a valid address and that companies honor requests to unsubscribe. The court did not need to rule on whether the state university e-mail servers are public or private.
Brought to you by Guardian eCommerce.
