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Woolley & Co E-Zine

Tips and ideas for keeping your business on the right side of the law

Welcome. In this month’s E-zine we review the new rules governing the sending of so called ‘cold’ commercial emails and provide a reminder of the required legal content of all websites.

We welcome your feedback – if there is any particular legal issue you’d like to see covered send the details through to marketing@e-lawfirm.co.uk.

Andrew Woolley

Andrew Woolley, Principal, Woolley & Co

New Email Regulations

The new rules, being introduced from 11 December 2003, are to comply with the EU Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive. But there are already rules that prevail and those who are not experienced marketers may not appreciate that the Advertising Standards Authority rules apply to any email or e-commerce marketing activity. These rules are encapsulated in what is known as Committee of Advertising Practice Code (CAP Code) a link to which is here: http://www.cap.org.uk/.

What are the rules?
There are two main sets of regulations that affect e-mails (I ignore for the purposes of this E-zine the Data Protection rules which are a whole additional subject and one that any e-marketers should make themselves aware of). The present position is (very basically) that:

You can send a commercial e-mail to someone (consumer or a business) if you want, whether they have requested it or not.
You must be careful how you got their details to enable you to send it. (Did you comply with the data protection regulations – to download a relevant Fact Sheet visit click here.)
The CAP code does apply to you when sending such e-mails to a consumer if they contain (paraphrasing) an advert of some type (surely almost all do?). The CAP code bans such e-mails unless the person involved has consented to receive them.

I can hear you say: “Yes, thanks a lot! Can I send e-mails to prospects or not? Give us the normal Woolley & Co plain English answer.”

The answer is yes you can if:

They’ve agreed you can OR
It does not contain an advert (NB why would you send an e-mail to somebody who hadn’t agreed you could unless it was an advert?) OR
It’s to a business (exercise caution here - how do you know whether they are a business?)

But after 11th December 2003…

You must get explicit consent before sending a commercial e-mail to an individual.
You can continue to keep in touch with past customers
You must tell people if your website uses “cookies” and have a mechanism to remove them from use
Explicit must mean “opt in” rather than “opt out” of getting marketing e-mails

For more details about what you should do click through here to a complete Woolley Fact Sheet on the subject.

Our advice is to take care: breach of the new regs is a criminal offence and you could be sued for any damages caused. For detailed advice on the CAP regulations, data protection, internet privacy policies and generally how to stay within the law when undertaking your email marketing contact Woolley & Co on 01789 267377 or email Andrew Woolley at aw@e-lawfirm.co.uk.

Keeping Your Website Legal

If you have a website, particularly one that offers items for sale there are certain pieces of information that must be included. The details must be in an easily found place and available before a purchase is made.

You should include:

full business name
e-mail address
full postal address
VAT number
company registration number
your membership of any authorising body (such as the Law Society if you are a solicitor!)
main details of the goods
price and how to pay and how long the price is available
delivery details
cost of ordering the things via the web if different from off-line
information about after sales things such as guarantees, service etc

If your site doesn’t contain these items we suggest you amend quickly. Failure to supply this information could result in the embarrassment of “name and shame” and even a closure order (let alone the normal financial penalties).

E-Commerce Shorts

Guide to on-line payment systems
A new on-line guide, helping small firms build internet payment systems, has been launched by UK on-line for business. The government backed e-commerce support group has developed the guide to help businesses make the most of the many new payment methods available in the digital age. As UK consumers spend over Ł1 billion a month on-line and web-based shopping is growing about 15 times faster than high street sales then virtual payments are a must for any growing business. The handbook lists on-line payment suppliers and outlines the costs and benefits of facilitating on-line transactions. For more information go to www.ukonlineforbusiness.gov.uk.

On-line Security
The first on-line source of information about e-security specifically for SMEs has been launched by UK online for business at www.ukonlineforbusiness.gov.uk.

To find out more about these and other legal issues visit the Woolley & Co website at www.e-lawfirm.co.uk.

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