fines
I try not to do a lot of “name and shame,” but when something like this hits the news, it’s important to let the world know, to remind us that sending unsolicited marketing email can indeed come back to bite the sender in the rear end. In this case, it’s UK bike and car accessory retailer Halfords, fined nearly $35,000 by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office’s for sending just under half a million unsolicited marketing email messages. Read all about it at the Register.
Compliance with spam laws is still a necessary thing, you know. And failing to follow the rules can get really, really expensive.A few weeks ago, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), the Australian regulator of media and communications, announced that online gambling company Sportsbet will have to pay $2.5 million (AUD) in fines and that they have “committed to refund customers around $1.2 million (AUD)” to settle spam allegations.The ACMA investigation “found Sportsbet sent more than 150,000 marketing text messages and emails to over 37,000 consumers who had tried to unsubscribe. Sportsbet also sent over 3,000 marketing texts that had no unsubscribe function.”Read more about it here from the ACMA (and you can find the enforcement notices here).[ H/T: Highstakes DB ]