California, Feds Slam Spammer Who Used Affiliates  
by Anne P. Mitchell, Esq. - 2 Comments, Last updated 04/22/2006

We’ve been telling you ever since CAN-SPAM passed that the most overlooked and undersung aspect of CAN-SPAM was the McCain Amendment, which puts vendors whose goods are advertised in spam firmly on the hook even if an affiliate sent the spam. We are inordinately proud of that amendment, because, hey, we helped author it. But also because we knew that it had lots of teeth. But nobody has heard about it - despite the sharpness of those teeth, it’s been completely overlooked by the press and a majority of the industry.

But let me tell you who has heard of it: Optin Global, Inc., Vision Media Limited Corp., Qing Kuang “Rickâ€? Yang, and Peonie Pui Ting Chen. That’s who.

You may know them better as the folks who stuffed millions of pieces of mortgage spam into your collective mailboxes, much of it through their affiliates, who would get a kickback whenever someone clicked through the spam looking for a cheap mortgage.

In announcing the settlement of the lawsuit this week, the FTC explained that “The settlement requires that the defendants establish an aggressive monitoring regime for any future affiliate program to assure that their affiliates are complying with the provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act and California law. In addition to reviewing, in advance, the subject line, text, and other particulars of the affiliates proposed campaign, the defendants are required to establish an opt-out mechanism for any e-mail campaign conducted on their behalf and requires that they ensure that all opt-out requests are honored.”

So remember, spammers - you can run, but you can’t hide behind affiliates any more.