Best Buy Gets Spanked Over Spam

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has accepted an undertaking from online electronic goods retailer Best Buy following an investigation into its compliance with the Spam Act 2003.

As part of the undertaking, the company has agreed to stop marketing electronically until it has processes in place that comply with the legislation.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has accepted an undertaking from online electronic goods retailer Best Buy following an investigation into its compliance with the Spam Act 2003.

As part of the undertaking, the company has agreed to stop marketing electronically until it has processes in place that comply with the legislation.

The ACMA found that Best Buy used an automated emailing system that failed to process some unsubscribe requests. The ACMA also found that Best Buy kept more than one marketing list and that when changes were made to one list, they were not necessarily reflected in others.

If Best Buy decides to resume marketing electronically, then it will be required to establish training and quality assurance processes as well as a complaints handling policy. Best Buy has also paid an amount of $8,000 as part of its undertaking.

This is the second investigation the ACMA has conducted into Best Buy’s compliance with the Spam Act. In August 2008 it paid an infringement notice of $4,400 for allegedly sending commercial electronic messages without the consent of the recipient and after requests to be removed from its mailing lists.