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Baker & McKenzie

You may probably find a large amount of junk mail as you check your email account. Perhaps, it is not unusual for you to see your mailbox flooded with offers of prescription drugs at very low prices, dubious schemes to quickly become rich, or discounts for printer cartridge refills. You are not the only one.

A recent study conducted by International Data Corporation ("IDC"), a renowned firm in technological research, and published on September 1, 2004, estimates that "spam" accounts for 38 percent of the email messages sent in the year 2004 in the United States of America, and that is two percent more than a prior year.

"Spam" is the distribution of unsolicited e-mail messages, usually of a commercial nature sent out in bulk, some of which are of a fraudulent, inappropriate, or offensive nature, which are sent to thousands of persons every day. "Spam" wastes the time of the net users as well as the resources of the net, and it can eventually be dangerous; not surprisingly, many companies are getting software to block spam.

The Congress of the United States of America recently published the "Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003", or "CAN-SPAM Act of 2003", which regulates the reception of these kind of messages and the liability of the sender. However, eight months after its implementation, the problem continues growing.

Now, starting on November 4, 2004, when recent amendments to the Federal Consumer Protection Law (the "LFC," for its Spanish initials) will come into effect, a public registry of consumers ("PRC") will be created, one where any interested party may ask to be included, so that his or her information cannot be used for marketing or advertising purposes.

For the purposes of the LFC, marketing or advertising purposes means the offering and promotion of goods, products, or services to consumers, and thus, it will prohibited to send advertisements to consumers that expressly state they do not want to receive such advertisements or to those who are included in the PRC.

While it is true that the LFC refers to all kinds of information, it is not difficult to imagine the application of these provisions to unsolicited e-mail messages.
Consumers may file with the Federal Consumer Protection Agency ("FCPA"), in writing or via email, a form requesting the registration in the PRC, or a form for complaining for violations committed by providers or companies that use the information on the persons included in the PRC.

Like this, if you are one of the consumers who do not want to receive such unsolicited information any longer, you have full right to be registered with the PRC. On the other hand, if you are the provider or the company, you should pay special attention to the compliance with the provisions of the LFC.