Email security solutions developer,
MX Logic, reported on Tuesday that compliance with the Can-Spam Act, anti-spam
legislation that took effect in January 2004, fell below one percent in
July.

According to a spam sample analyzed by MX Logic, on average only 0.54 percent of spam was in compliance with the legislation, the lowest level since the law has been in place.

The Can-Spam Act requires unsolicited commercial email senders to identify themselves clearly in the “from” line, include subject line text consistent with message content, provide a valid postal address and contain an opt-out mechanism.

“No one should be shocked by the decrease in compliance,” says Scott Chasin, CTO of MX Logic. “The Can-Spam Act was never designed to be an antidote for spam. The law provides a definition of legally unacceptable email marketing practices and empowers consumer protection agencies and ISPs to go after hardcore spammers, but it cannot by itself control the onslaught of spam. What we need now is progress on other fronts, namely, industry cooperation on email authentication protocols, continued technological innovation and end-user education.”

MX Logic also reported that in the month of July, 84 percent of all email traffic was spam, a nine percent increase over the previous month.

MX Logic monitors global email traffic through the MX Logic Threat Center. The company’s analysis of Can-Spam Act compliance looked at samples of 10,000 spam emails a week.

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