For years, internet surfer have been bogged by spam mails. Users has tried and exhausted various techniques to get rid of these mails forever but, none of them worked properly. Hence, certain laws have been passed by the government. The main goal of these laws is to inhibit and prosecute spammers while protecting the rights of legal email senders. Therefore, as an internet user you should be aware of your rights against spam mails.

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, has laid down four basic rules for commercial senders. Under this law, users have been given the right to stop sending such junking mails. Since, 1st of January 2004, the law has been in effect. According to the law, no commercial mails should have misleading titles. As, the titles act as an agreement with the content of the email. To enforce these laws rests with The Federal Trade Commission. Some of the other regulatory bodies, which also have the power to enforce this spam law are The Department of Justice and other relevant authorities. If any individual violates these laws, companies have the right to pursue legal action against them.

This law has a few basic anti-spam requirements and provisions such as:
Every mail recipient should be provided with the option to opt-out of subscription to your messages. This option should be included in every commercial email. The opt-out of address can be a return address or an automated response mechanism.
Commercial emails should be easily identifiable and include your postal address at the end of every message you send. This is to provide the user with the option to block your emails if he finds them irritating.
No misleading subject lines should be included in any commercial emails. You should not trick the consumers in reading your mails by including misleading subject lines.
Commercial emailers should not steal email address of consumers from web pages, forums or blogs. You should mails to only those users who have opted to receive communications from you.
You should not use automate scripts to send bulk commercial mails to users.
Never send commercial mails through 'botnet' or other multiple computers.

Consumers have the option to file a complaint, if any of the spam laws are violated. They can either go to the Federal Trade Commission website or forward the  unwanted junk mail to them to file their complaint. To solve the problem of spam mails permanently is possible only if the authorities enforce it correctly and if spammers are reported.