According to a ruling by the European Court of Justice, unsolicited advertising messages disguised as e-mails in the mailbox may violate EU law. Due to the risk of confusion with real emails, people could be forwarded to relevant websites against their will, the ECJ announced. So-called inbox advertising, which looks almost like a regular e-mail in the inbox, is only permitted if the user has expressly consented to this. In the specific case, the Städtische Werk Lauf an der Pegnitz had objected to advertisements of the competing electricity supplier Eprimo by e-mail to users of the online service T-Online: This advertising measure therefore violates the regulations on unfair competition.
EU law – Inadmissible advertising by e-mail – Economy
