PRIVACY: AIM E-mail Rules Draw Internal Fire

Did the Association for Interactive Media go far enough when it passed a set of resolutions for responsible e-mail marketing last month? At least one member thinks not. Rosalind Resnick, chairman/CEO of NetCreations Inc., New York, feels that the opt-out provision approved by AIM’s Council for Responsible E-mail will hardly impress legislators. Resnick said she proposed to the group that it support an opt-in provision for third-party e-mail lists, but “AIM decided to table that for future discussion.” Instead, the guidelines call for firms to inform consumers about how their e-mail addresses will be used at the time of collection, while giving them the choice to opt out. Other council members said AIM, a subsidiary of the Direct Marketing Association, has gone far enough. “If we came out with the philosophy that we only accept opt-in e-mail, that attitude could spill over into direct mail,” said David O. Schwartz, president of 21st Century Marketing, Farmingdale, NY. Jay Schwe! delson, corporate vice president of Worldata Webconnect in Boca Raton, FL, adds: “I think AIM has taken some great first steps. There are more steps to be taken, but they have to be taken at the right speed.” According to AIM executive director Ben Isaacson, the resolutions are designed to “get out in the open what everyone implicitly agrees on already – that thou shalt not lie, cheat or steal.” The guidelines state that marketers must not falsify the sender’s domain name, nor falsify the subject line to mislead the reader from the content of the e-mail message; that they must inform the respondent when his or her e-mail address is collected and indicate for what purpose the e-mail address will be used; and not harvest e-mail addresses with the intent to send bulk unsolicited commercial e-mail without consumers’ knowledge or consent.