Learn in the textbookLaws on Unauthorized Access and Cyber Crime
DefinitionThe Act on Regulation of Specified Electronic Mail (特定電子メール法) is a law that sets the rules senders must follow for email sent to advertise or promote, known as specified electronic mail (特定電子メール).
ExplanationThe basic rule is opt-in (オプトイン): advertising email goes out only after the recipient has agreed in advance, though the law sets some exceptions. Senders must show their name, a contact for refusing further mail and other required details in the message. Keeping records that show consent was obtained, and sending nothing more to anyone who has refused, are also duties of the sender.
AnalogyIt is like a store rule that free samples go, as a rule, to people who ask for them, with a note kept of who asked and when.
Memory hookIts full name is the Act on Regulation of Transmission of Specified Electronic Mail. As the name says, its rules are aimed at the sender, not the recipient.