Court Opinions

State Laws

US Code

US Constitution

California Business And Professions Code Section 17529.1

Legal Research Home > California Lawyer > Business and Professions Code > California Business And Professions Code Section 17529.1

For the purpose of this article, the following definitions
apply:
   (a) "Advertiser" means a person or entity that advertises through
the use of commercial e-mail advertisements.
   (b) "California electronic mail address" or "California e-mail
address" means any of the following:
   (1) An e-mail address furnished by an electronic mail service
provider that sends bills for furnishing and maintaining that e-mail
address to a mailing address in this state.
   (2) An e-mail address ordinarily accessed from a computer located
in this state.
   (3) An e-mail address furnished to a resident of this state.
   (c) "Commercial e-mail advertisement" means any electronic mail
message initiated for the purpose of advertising or promoting the
lease, sale, rental, gift offer, or other disposition of any
property, goods, services, or extension of credit.
   (d) "Direct consent" means that the recipient has expressly
consented to receive e-mail advertisements from the advertiser,
either in response to a clear and conspicuous request for the consent
or at the recipient's own initiative.
   (e) "Domain name" means any alphanumeric designation that is
registered with or assigned by any domain name registrar as part of
an electronic address on the Internet.
   (f) "Electronic mail" or "e-mail" means an electronic message that
is sent to an e-mail address and transmitted between two or more
telecommunications devices, computers, or electronic devices capable
of receiving electronic messages, whether or not the message is
converted to hard copy format after receipt, viewed upon
transmission, or stored for later retrieval.  "Electronic mail" or
"e-mail" includes electronic messages that are transmitted through a
local, regional, or global computer network.
   (g) "Electronic mail address" or "e-mail address" means a
destination, commonly expressed as a string of characters, to which
electronic mail can be sent or delivered.  An "electronic mail
address" or "e-mail address" consists of a user name or mailbox and a
reference to an Internet domain.
   (h) "Electronic mail service provider" means any person, including
an Internet service provider, that is an intermediary in sending or
receiving electronic mail or that provides to end users of the
electronic mail service the ability to send or receive electronic
mail.
   (i) "Initiate" means to transmit or cause to be transmitted a
commercial e-mail advertisement or assist in the transmission of a
commercial e-mail advertisement by providing electronic mail
addresses where the advertisement may be sent, but does not include
the routine transmission of the advertisement through the network or
system of a telecommunications utility or an electronic mail service
provider through its network or system.
   (j) "Incident" means a single transmission or delivery to a single
recipient or to multiple recipients of an unsolicited commercial
e-mail advertisement containing substantially similar content.
   (k) "Internet" has the meaning set forth in paragraph (6) of
subdivision (e) of Section 17538.
   (l) "Preexisting or current business relationship," as used in
connection with the sending of a commercial e-mail advertisement,
means that the recipient has made an inquiry and has provided his or
her e-mail address, or has made an application, purchase, or
transaction, with or without consideration, regarding products or
services offered by the advertiser.
   Commercial e-mail advertisements sent pursuant to the exemption
provided for a preexisting or current business relationship shall
provide the recipient of the commercial e-mail advertisement with the
ability to "opt-out" from receiving further commercial e-mail
advertisements by calling a toll-free telephone number or by sending
an "unsubscribe" e-mail to the advertiser offering the products or
services in the commercial e-mail advertisement. This opt-out
provision does not apply to recipients who are receiving free e-mail
service with regard to commercial e-mail advertisements sent by the
provider of the e-mail service.
   (m) "Recipient" means the addressee of an unsolicited commercial
e-mail advertisement.  If an addressee of an unsolicited commercial
e-mail advertisement has one or more e-mail addresses to which an
unsolicited commercial e-mail advertisement is sent, the addressee
shall be deemed to be a separate recipient for each e-mail address to
which the e-mail advertisement is sent.
   (n) "Routine transmission" means the transmission, routing,
relaying, handling, or storing of an electronic mail message through
an automatic technical process.  "Routine transmission" shall not
include the sending, or the knowing participation in the sending, of
unsolicited commercial e-mail advertisements.
   (o) "Unsolicited commercial e-mail advertisement" means a
commercial e-mail advertisement sent to a recipient who meets both of
the following criteria:
   (1) The recipient has not provided direct consent to receive
advertisements from the advertiser.
   (2) The recipient does not have a preexisting or current business
relationship, as defined in subdivision (l), with the advertiser
promoting the lease, sale, rental, gift offer, or other disposition
of any property, goods, services, or extension of credit.

Last modified: January 12, 2009