New Laws in Michigan and Utah

You may or may not have heard about the new laws coming out of Michigan and Utah. Everyone is talking about these laws and what they should do about them... how can they protect themselves, how can they tell if someone under 18 is subscribedto their ezine, or accessing their sites,what to do,what to do.It's an uproar,to be sure. But please do not push the proverbial panic button. Reprinted below is an email from Clarissa 'kiki'Frampton of the Publishers Club. In it you will find links towhere you can read the laws.... and I might add that they are short and easily understandable. Kiki also has reprinted the opinions of two well respected individuals...Bobette Madonna and j.l. scott. She has also provided two disclaimers you can post to your site and in your emails. And just so you know...I also agree with the opinions of both Bobbette and j.l. ... these laws were not meant to protect children.... and what I would like to say here, is better left unsaid.... I will leave the saying to those that are more eloquent than I. Here then is the email.

The "buzz" around the Internet lately is the new lawsfrom Michigan and Utah. In case you have not been made aware of these laws go here to read.

Michigan: http://marketingsherpa.com/usscp/1.html
Utah: marketingsherpa.com/usscp/2.html

Bobbette Madonna of LOGON writes:

If you believe this is all about protecting kids from getting an ad that leads to some porn site, you live in lala land. Kids can find those sites all by themselves. How many casesdo you think it will take for publishers and business owners to quit? How many of those "kids" complaining will be greedy, scamming parents who SET IT UP in the first place? Why don't they exempt the small business owner? The ezine publisher? I'll tell you why. BECAUSE WE OWN AN OPTIN LIST and they want to profit from it, period. This is about big money people making laws and expanding on them over time to rid theInternet of ecommerce so THEY can have it all to themselves. Think about WHO THEY ARE and you have who's doing dirty deed. To read more on this law, go to this site:http://www.isipp.com/

jl Scott of i-Cop has this to say:

It IS about SPAM, no doubt about that. These states are merely hiding behind so-called child protection laws to work around the CAN-SPAM Act. If they were truly concerned about child protection, they wouldn't be putting together lists every child molester and pedophile in the country is gleefully waiting to access. I've read they're going to encrypt the list, access, etc., and I've heard they simply have a fancy process for scrubbing the lists. That's a JOKE, folks, and it ain't funny. Do they REALLY believe some 12-year-old hacker won't break through any thing they do within 30 days?

I should also tell you ... Although the fine legislative folks ofMichigan and Utah seem to believe these laws will not be struck down due to anything in the CAN-SPAM Act, iCop WILL be petitioning for an opinion letter from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stating that these two laws are void on their face, having been superseded by the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.

I respect these fine publishers and agree with both. While I do not feel we should panic I think it may be a good idea to include a disclaimer in your publication. It can be short such as:

PERSONS UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE ARE EXCLUDED FROM THIS MAILING! If you are under the age of 18 you must unsubscribe immediately.

Or you may use this disclaimer:

Online Children's Privacy Protection Act. Please be aware that "your publication name" is not designed for, and does not intend for it to be used by, anyone under age 18. Accordingly, this ezine should not be used by anyone under age 18. Our privacy policy prohibits us from accepting users or subscribers who are under the age of 18.

Should "your publication name" inadvertently acquire personal information or other data from users under the age of 18, we will not knowingly provide this data to any third party for any purpose whatsoever, and any subsequent disclosure would be due to the fact the user underage of 18 submitted personal information without solicitation by or permission from "your publication name".

Even tho these disclaimers will not protect you 100% you have stated that children are not to view your mailings or website. If you have a links page and accept third party links check to make sure you do not have links to:

Tobacco
Alcohol
Gambling
Prescription Drugs
Illegal Drugs
Adult Content
Guns/Knives/Weapons
Lotteries
Sweepstakes

You can subscribe to LOGON ezine http://logonnewzine.com or emailBobbette mailto:publisher@logonnewzine.com To join i-Cop visithttp://www.i-cop.org or email jlScott mailto:jlscott@i-Cop.org To view all disclaimers used by Start-Smartz please visit: http://www.start-smartz.com/ss_signup.htm and scroll down to theTerms of Service and Disclaimer section

Let's stick together as publishers... we are not doing anything wrong and we all provide a great service to our loyal readers. Clarissa & Gloria ThePublishersClub

Reprinted from AplusBiz Marketing Journal by permission.