Law / United States / 
Florida
Florida Electronic Mail Communications Act
In force since .
A commercial messages rule binding private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition, Disclosure
As of .
What it requires
- Do not initiate or assist in transmitting an unsolicited commercial email from a computer in Florida, or to an address held by a Florida resident, that uses a third party's Internet domain name without permission, carries falsified or missing routing information, a false or misleading subject line, or false or deceptive body content designed to damage the recipient's device; this does not apply to a message a computer virus sends or retransmits without the sender's knowledge or consent.
- Do not distribute software or another system designed to falsify or omit information identifying the point of origin or transmission path of a commercial email message.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
A violation of Fla. Stat. § 668.603 is ordinarily a misdemeanor of the first degree. Fla. Stat. § 668.608(2) raises it to a felony of the third degree where the sender's volume exceeds 2,500 attempted recipients in 24 hours, 25,000 in 30 days, or 250,000 in a year, where a single message's revenue exceeds $1,000 or total revenue exceeds $50,000, where the sender knowingly uses a minor to help send the message, or on a repeat conviction within 5 years.
Penalty structure
A violation of Fla. Stat. § 668.603 is deemed an unfair and deceptive trade practice under Fla. Stat. § 668.6075, drawing the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act's general civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each willful violation under Fla. Stat. § 501.2075, in addition to the private liquidated-damages remedy.
- Rule
- Per violation only
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per violation unit
- Violation
- Per violation amount
- 10,000
Statutory damages
A prevailing plaintiff recovers compensatory damages equal to any actual damage proven, or liquidated damages of $500 for each unsolicited commercial email message that violates Fla. Stat. § 668.603, whichever the plaintiff elects.
- As of
- Currency
- USD
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Department of Legal Affairs, treating a violation as an unfair and deceptive trade practice under Fla. Stat. § 668.6075; a prevailing private plaintiff under Fla. Stat. § 668.606; criminal prosecution under Fla. Stat. § 668.608.
What this law does
Florida's Electronic Mail Communications Act does not require consent before sending a commercial email; instead it bars initiating or assisting the transmission of an unsolicited commercial email that uses a third party's Internet domain name without permission, carries falsified or missing routing information, a false or misleading subject line, or false or deceptive body content designed to damage the recipient's device, and bars distributing software designed to falsify such routing information.
Each duty is framed as a rule against falsity or deception rather than a general regulation of commercial email, the kind of state email rule that the CAN-SPAM Act's preemption clause leaves in force.
A prevailing plaintiff may enjoin future violations and recover compensatory damages or liquidated damages of $500 for each violating message, plus attorney's fees, within 4 years of the violation; a violation is also deemed an unfair and deceptive trade practice, exposing the sender to Department of Legal Affairs enforcement and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act's civil penalty of up to $10,000 for a willful violation.
Chapter 2006-232, effective , added criminal penalties. A violation is a first-degree misdemeanor, rising to a third-degree felony where the sender's volume or revenue crosses one of several thresholds the section lists, where the sender uses a minor to help send the message, or on a repeat conviction within 5 years.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app sends automated outreach.