political email

having trouble with CAN SPAM restrictions

[chewy]

Hi,

I'm working with an unnamed PAC (registered Political Action Committee).

We've got a bit of a problem. We have a pot-load of email addresses gathered on an electronic petition.

We'd like to email to these names. Of course we want our first email to request them to opt in for more mail.

100% of everyone we have spoken with have declined mailing this list (in excess of 50K) due to the fact that they wish to be very strict in their reading of CAN SPAM. Some were rather vehement, even though political email is supposedly exempt from CAN SPAM.

I understand the reasons and respect them.

But we still need to get the mailing out.

It is ironic that the only way we seem to be able to mail to our list is by going with a spammer....

Other than going offshore, does anyone have anything to recommend?

[vincevincevince]

Rent a dedicated server, get a $30 script to loop through the names in the database, and send them out from there. Make sure it is all in your name so if anyone wishes to complain it goes back to you.

[chewy]

pls what might be the legal implications (with respect to TOS) and what are the standard issues that allow a mailer to fly under the radar and within reason?

sticky me if what you need to say may violate TOS pls.

[monkeythumpa]

If you have the physical sheets with the sign ups, you don't need another opt in. You are legit to mail, as long as you have your address and a way to opt out.

If you want to send it out, 50K names on a DSL line will take between 15-120 minutes depending on your upload speed. There are a lot of email blast software packages out there, from free to really expensive. It depends on what you need, I have set up these systems for a lot of companies and am very familiar with US and European SPAM laws.

PM me if you want more info. I can offer my services at a discounted rate for a good cause.