• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, August 2, 2005

Eighteen months after the enactment of Can-Spam, major retailers appear to be complying with the law, according to a new report by the Federal Trade Commission.

For the report, FTC staffers in December of last year created e-mail accounts and then visited the Web sites of 100 leading retailers to register for promotions and updates. FTC gleaned the marketers from the National Retail Federation's list of the top 100 retailers and a 2004 study of Can-Spam compliance by Arial Software.

Then, after signing up for the e-mails, on Jan. 14 staffers attempted to opt out. Nearly all of the marketers (89 percent) ceased sending messages.

But those results are hardly surprising. Major retailers have too much at stake to ignore a federal law; rather, it's the small players - those who operate offshore, or out of boiler rooms - that continue to send spam.

Chances are the law won't ever catch up with those companies; even if it does, new spammers will arise to take their place as long as there are consumers willing to buy what spammers are selling. An April report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 6 percent of e-mail users have placed an order after receiving an unsolicited e-mail ad.

The only realistic way to slow down inveterate spammers is to develop new technology -- spam filters and the like -- and educate consumers about how to protect themselves online.