UPDATE: Here Is The Latest On The New Maine Law That Bans Sending Email Marketing Messages To Anyone Under 18 Without Parental Consent

Please click here to view the original post, New Maine Law Bans Sending Email Marketing Messages To Anyone Under 18 Without Parental Consent, on this topic.

Maine Attorney General Janet Mills has asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit by media groups and Web companies challenging a controversial new privacy law.

Mills argues that the court should not get involved because she has no plans to prosecute companies for violating the measure. "The attorney general has publicly stated, and hereby confirms, that she will not enforce this law, to which the governor concurs," her office wrote in papers filed Thursday with the federal district court in Maine. "It is well-established that a federal court has no jurisdiction over a challenge to a state statute when there is no credible risk of enforcement."

The new law, slated to take effect Sept. 12, would bar companies from collecting personal information or health-related information from minors under 18 without their parents' consent. The measure also prohibits companies from selling or transferring health information about minors that identifies them, regardless of how the data was collected.

A coalition of media organizations including the Maine Press Association, and Web companies including AOL, Yahoo and eBay, recently asked the court to issue an injunction against the measure.

They contend that the law would violate their First Amendment right to publish newsworthy information about teens, as well as restricting teens' right to receive information. The Web companies also say the measure would require them to block teens from their sites.

The measure, signed by Maine Governor John Baldacci in June, sailed through the state legislature with no opposition -- apparently because watchdogs lost sight of the bill.

Although Mills has no plans to carry out the law, opponents say they are seeking an injunction because the measure also allows private parties to sue for $250 damages per violation. But Mills says the case should nonetheless be dismissed. "Essentially, the courts do not require state officials to defend against theoretical lawsuits that might be brought by private parties against private parties," her office argues.

You can learn more by clicking here.

New Maine Law Bans Sending Email Marketing Messages To Anyone Under 18 Without Parental Consent

UPDATE: Click here to view an update of this Law!

On June 2, 2009, the Governor of Maine signed into law an Act To Prevent Predatory Marketing Practices against Minors, codified at Maine Rev. Stat. Ann., tit. 10, ch. 1055, § 9551, et seq. Although its title would seem to apply to "predatory" practices, and earlier versions focused only on health-related information, the enacted bill effectively extends COPPA protection to those younger than 18 (the age of majority in Maine) rather than just those younger than 13.

Under the new law, which is effective 90 days after the date of enactment, it is unlawful to collect individually identifiable information about "minors" without verifiable parental consent, if the information is going to be used for marketing purposes. The new law comes with a private right of action that allows for damages up to $250 per violation. (It is not clear how “per violation” will be defined, and whether a person can bring the action for violations involving only his or her own personal information. At the very least, the possibility of a class of consumers seeking recovery of up to $250 per violation is present.) The plaintiff also is entitled to attorneys’ fees and costs, and the amount of the damages can be trebled if the violation was willful.

The new law also creates a civil penalty, which appears to be available only in the case of an action brought by a state regulator, of "no less than" $10,000 per violation. The penalty goes up to $20,000 for subsequent violations of the law.

What This Means
Although regulations could be developed that temper the possible effect of this new Maine law, on its face, it essentially extends the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) to cover teenagers. What is missing, however, is any reference to the exceptions in COPPA that permit marketers to offer children the ability to provide their online contact information in order to participate in a one-time request for a service, like entering a sweepstakes. Thus, a marketer is faced with the prospect of having to obtain COPPA-style verifiable parental consent from a teenager (under 18) in order to include a minor from Maine in his promotion, or voiding the promotion in Maine (at least for those under the age of majority).

Long story short you need to be extra careful when sending email or other marketing messages to folks in Maine. Various marketing organizations, including email marketing organization, are trying to fight against this law. Stay tuned...

The majority of this information is from an article that can be viewed by clicking here.