Maryland Commercial Electronic Mail Act

Maryland's Commercial Electronic Mail Act imposes no consent duty on sending commercial email; instead a person may not initiate, conspire to initiate, or assist in transmitting commercial electronic mail that is sent from a computer in Maryland, or to an address the sender knows or should know is held by a Maryland resident, and that uses a third party's Internet domain name or email address without permission, carries false or misleading information about the message's origin or transmission path, or carries false or misleading information in the subject line that has the capacity, tendency, or effect of deceiving the recipient.

Commercial electronic mail is email that advertises real property, goods, or services for sale or lease, not counting an advertisement an interactive computer service provider attaches in exchange for free use of an email account. A sender is presumed to know that a recipient is a Maryland resident if that information is available on request from the registrant of the domain name in the recipient's address.

The prohibition does not apply to an interactive computer service provider or a telecommunication utility that merely handles, retransmits, or carries the message. Each prohibition is framed as a rule against falsity or deception in the message, the kind of state email rule the CAN-SPAM Act's preemption clause leaves in force.

An interactive computer service provider may block mail it reasonably believes is or will be sent in violation of the Act, without liability for a good-faith blocking decision.

A person who violates the Act is liable for reasonable attorney's fees and for damages of at least $500 to the recipient, at least $500 to a third party whose domain name or email address was used without permission, and at least $1,000 to an interactive computer service provider, or the affected party's actual damages if greater.