How to bypass Australia's Spam Act

Clearswift Asia Pacific managing director Chy Chuawiwat said at a Spam Forum today "chances are that the Spam Act will catch some legitimate business people unaware that they are breaking the new law and fines can be hefty for breaches."

Some researchers claim 80 percent of all e-mails will be spam by 2007, providing impetus to the federal government to tighten the provisions of the Act.

Mike Sadler, OzEmail director for product development and research, said, "It's one thing to know what is or isn't allowed by the Spam Act, but it could be an entirely different thing knowing what various e-mail gateway operators might classify as unwanted."

"Businesses should be really concerned that they know the message is getting through, and if it doesn't what steps they can take to rectify the issues," Sadler warned.

During a panel session today, Chuawiwat and Sadler suggested some ways for legitimate businesses to send their marketing electronic messages without getting hit by the Spam Act and or being blocked by e-mail and Web site filters.

Chuawiwat proposed that messages should use text instead of plain HTML only. Use links to your Web site and add as much contact information as possible to prove the legitimacy of the message and the company. Use plain text subject lines and ask the recipient to put you in their "White List." Limiting the number of recipients of an e-mail will also help avoid the filters.

Chuawiwat warns not to put "spam phrases" such as 'click here to unsubscribe' in the e-mails so messages are not filtered out as spam.

Clayton Utz IT laywer Andre Stein says aside from these measures, companies should also educate "the staff and management regularly and in plain English." He said it is important that companies know what their staff is doing with/on the computer networks, and to consistently enforce the rules.