New Telecom Law valid in 1 month

Only 1 month to go: On October 1st 2009 the new Dutch Telecom Law becomes valid. As of this date companies may only send commercial mailings to their business relations with explicit permission of the recipient. Much have been written about the new law during the last months, but still not everyone is familiar with the new rules. Therefore, with one month to go, we hereby present a short summary.

What is this ban on spam?
According to the Dutch Telecom Law, it is illegal to send unrequested commercial, charitable or ideological messages using electronic media like e-mail, telephone, mobile messages, fax, but also social networking sites like Hyves and Facebook. These rules already applied for individual recipient, as of October 1st, these rules also apply to business relations.

Who does it concern?
The Dutch Telecom Law applies to everyone who sends messages to Dutch addresses, even foreign senders need to follow these rules when sending to Dutch recipients. The rules also apply to Dutch senders who send messages to European addresses. When sending to countries outside Europe, they need to comply with the laws and rules of the country the recipient lives in.

What is allowed?
You are allowed to send commercial, charitable or ideological messages as long as the recipient gave explicit permission (opt-in), for example by selecting a checkbox. The name of the sender should be clearly stated and a unsubscribe link is compulsory.

Even with the new law it is still allowed to send interesting offers to your existing customers. If you've sold a product or service, you may send this customer commercial messages without explicit permission, but only for similar products or services.

Copernica BV has recently published various tips on how to get opt-in subscriptions. These tips (only in Dutch) are available on the website Reclameweek.nl