Note: the following article is the opinion of the author and should not be considered legal advice. Companies should seek the advice of counsel in considering the strategies and suggestions contained herein.

Assuming the bill is approved by both houses of Congress (as may have happened by the time you read this) and then signed by the president, the bill will supercede a number of state regulations already in effect, and render moot other regulations still pending. Of the latter category, the one giving trade groups and marketers ulcers was a California bill due to become law January 1, which, based on even the most optimistic reading, would have rendered most commercial e-mail, including e-mail newsletter advertising, illegal in the Golden State.

If approved, the new federal law will afford consumers and working professionals basic protection against the most egregious spammers while creating a sensible, legal framework for legitimate, commercial e-mail. Most prominently, it would prohibit false return addresses, misleading subject lines, and so-called "harvesting" of e-mail addresses from Web sites.

The new federal law will probably do little, initially, to stem the tide of spam (much of which originates overseas), though it will give authorities the means to prosecute the worst offenders. In the meantime, it will (and should) give even the most responsible e-mail marketers renewed reason to evaluate the role that e-mail plays in their marketing mix. High-tech marketers especially, given the heightened sensitivity of their tech-savvy audience, have been growing increasingly wary of the potential risks that unfettered use of the e-mail medium represents.

Even before the new bill officially becomes law, any company that uses e-mail as a marketing tool would be well-advised to appraise themselves of the new regulations and take steps to eliminate techniques and strategies that could possibly be interpreted as running contrary to the new guidelines. Though the federal statute is meeker than the bill originally planned for California, trade groups nonetheless anticipate a flurry of lawsuits in the early going, similar to the actions that greeted the national "do not call" list.

At the very minimum, responsible e-mail marketers should already be taking the following precautions:

1. Be doubly cautious in renting e-mail lists, especially from all but the most well-known, reputable publishers and list owners. Demand a clear description of how the names were sourced and how persons on the list are removed upon request. If that description seems vague or non-existent, ask questions of the owner, your broker, or agency, or avoid the list altogether. (Most large publishers can provide this information readily.)

2. E-mail only to those names on your house file for which you can document a clear business relationship or inquiry. Pay extra scrutiny to lists provided by partners, customers and field reps; demand the same documentation as in #1, above, and if missing, add those names to your suppression file. Lastly, avoid so-called opt-in lists that can be purchased for unlimited usage. Such arrangements would have the buyer assume the unlikely scenario of all names on the list having agreed to unrestricted e-mails from the highest bidder.