What are common misconceptions about CAN-SPAM?

Misconception: B2B emails are exempt. False. CAN-SPAM applies to all commercial electronic messages regardless of recipient type. Business emails are subject to the same requirements: accurate headers, non-deceptive subjects, physical address, and unsubscribe mechanism. The law makes no B2B distinction.

Misconception: You need consent to email under CAN-SPAM. False. CAN-SPAM is an opt-out framework. You ucan send commercial email without prior consent as long as you comply with requirements and honor unsubscribe requests. This differs from GDPR/CASL which require consent before sending. However, just because cold email is legal doesn't mean it's effective or wise.

Misconception: CAN-SPAM compliance guarantees deliverability. False. Mailbox providers like Gmail and Microsoft set standards far stricter than CAN-SPAM requires. Legal compliance is necessary but insufficient-high-quality sending practices, engagement optimization, and permission-based lists matter more for inbox placement than CAN-SPAM checkboxes. CAN-SPAM establishes a legal floor, not a best-practices ceiling-meeting minimum requirements while ignoring deliverability fundamentals produces legal but ineffective email programs.