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L-Soft participated in the EU workshop on spam that the European Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society, Erkki Liikanen, hosted in Brussels on October 16. The timing coincided with the October 31 deadline for implementing the opt-in requirements into the national laws across the EU.
In addition to the new rules, the workshop addressed additional steps needed to tackle the spam problem. Technical and educational issues as well as international cooperation, effective enforcement and self-regulatory industry actions were all discussed. The results of the workshop will be used in a Commission Communication later this year. L-Soft's comments regarding the EU workshop on spam are available below in PDF format.
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"Combating spam has become a matter for us all and has become one of the most significant issues facing the Internet today. It is a fight over many fronts. The EU, Member States, industry and consumers all have a role to play in the fight against spam both at the national and international level. We must act before users of e-mails or SMS stop using the Internet or mobile services, or refrain from using it to the extent that they otherwise would."
Erkki Liikanen,
European Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society
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Q. How do I configure my lists for "opt-in" subscription?
Answer by Nathan Brindle
Senior Technical Support Engineer, Software Development, L-Soft
It's very easy to set up LISTSERV lists to provide different levels of opt-in subscription protection and to provide opt-out information in all of LISTSERV's communications with subscribers.
Simple "confirmed opt-in" lists can be configured with the list header setting:
Subscription= Open
After the receipt of and action taken on a SUBSCRIBE command by LISTSERV, a message is sent to the new subscriber, informing that the subscription request has been accepted. Nothing further is required of the subscriber to activate the subscription. This message is a combination of the two mail template forms SIGNUP1 and $SIGNUP, which can be modified to suit your needs. The default message contains signoff instructions, which all opt-in mailing lists should provide.
Because this configuration is not secure from "spoofed" subscription requests, L-Soft does not recommend that it be used but rather that "double opt-in" lists be used instead.
Double opt-in lists are configured with:
Subscription= Open,Confirm
After the receipt of a SUBSCRIBE command by LISTSERV (the first opt-in), LISTSERV sends a confirmation request to the would-be subscriber, explaining that the request for subscription has been received but must now be confirmed either by responding to the confirmation request by e-mail, or (assuming LISTSERV's web interface is enabled) by clicking on an included hyperlink. The confirmation response is the second opt-in.
Double opt-in is the most secure method of maintaining publicly subscribable lists because it ensures that the subscriber's e-mail address actually works and requires an action by the subscriber to activate the subscription. If the subscriber does not respond to the confirmation request, the request times out in 48 hours, and a message is sent stating that the subscription request has been cancelled. The timeout period is configurable by setting a value in the Confirm-Delay= list header keyword.
To make your lists even more subscriber-friendly, you can choose to add a message header or footer to all messages. This can be done by providing text in the BOTTOM_BANNER and/or TOP_BANNER mail template forms for each list. These banners can contain just about any sort of information, including opt-out information for the convenience of your subscribers. Banners can also contain rotating content if desired. For more information on banners, or on mail templates in general, please see Chapter 9 of the List Owner's Manual.
To submit questions for future issues of the newsletter, please contact editor@lsoft.com.
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Dear Reader,
 This is an important day for all Internet users. Starting October 31, 2003, all European Union member states are covered by EU Directive 2002/58/EC, also known as the opt-in Directive. This makes the EU the largest opt-in zone in the world so far. More than 370 million people are covered, from the Arctic Circle to the Mediterranean. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom have or will soon have opt-in requirements for unsolicited e-mail communication in their respective national laws. These countries will soon be followed by the new EU member states: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. This is a good start for combating spam on an international level.
Although most spam currently originates outside Europe, we hope that the EU's strong opt-in stance will champion the adoption of opt-in legislation in the rest of the world.
This special issue of LISTSERV at Work explains the new opt-in rules and functions as a guide to further resources. Also included in this newsletter are our comments on the spam situation and different suggestions on how to fight spam.
Welcome, opt-in!
Eric Thomas,
CEO, L-Soft
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The EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communication harmonizes the rules on direct e-mail marketing in the European Union. These rules cover all types of sales promotions. The three main requirements for compliance are obtaining prior consent, identifying the sender and including opt-out instructions.
In order to promote compliance with the EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communication, L-Soft offers pointers on the best e-mail marketing practices that not only follow the law but will also bring about the best results.
Mattias Durnik, Global Marketing Analyst for L-Soft, writes about the importance of opt-in for building positive customer relations. Sending e-mail marketing messages to only those recipients who have given their explicit permission is the key to being a savvy e-mail marketer.
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Workshop Resources
Presentation on the new opt-in rules in brief. It also includes an overview of the workshop topics.
(PPT)
Workshop issue paper outlines legal, technical and educational facets of spam, building on the opt-in regime.
(DOC)
FAQ
Questions and Answers on Spam and the EU Opt-in Regime.
FTC Presentation
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission hosted a public forum to explore the issues regarding the proliferation of and potential solutions to spam earlier this year. See European Commission's presentation on "The New Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications (2002/58/EC) - Unsolicited Commercial Communications and other issues".
(PDF)
Speech
Speech of Mr. Erkki Liikanen, Member of the European Commission and responsible for Enterprise and the Information Society, "Combating Spam on All Fronts".
And the slides related to this speech.
(PDF)
Directive
Directive 2002/58/EC on privacy and electronic communications (article 13 covers unsolicited communications).
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