Order Enforced for Measures to be Taken Against Sol, Inc. concerning Violation of Act on Regulation of Transmission of Specified Electronic Mail

Outline

1. As a general rule, senders are prohibited from sending special e-mail to persons who have not in advance requested or consented to the transmission of such e-mail (Article 3, Item 1 of the Act (Restrictions on transmission of special e-mail)).
　Article 4 of the Act (Responsibility for Representation) also provides that senders of e-mail must correctly display their full name, title, etc. in the bodies of e-mails transmitted.
 
2. It has been recognized as fact that Sol, Inc. transmitted e-mail advertising or publicity for the “Tiara” website over a minimum period of July 1, 2011 to February 8, 2012 without the consent of recipients, acting in direct violation of the regulations found in Article 3, Item 1 of the Act.
　It has also been recognized as fact that publicity and advertising e-mails for the “Love x 2” website were transmitted without the consent of recipients and without displaying the sender's full name/title for a minimum confirmed period of December 1, 2010 to February 8, 2012, in violation of regulations in Article 3, Item 1 and Article 4 of the Act.
 
3. Because of this, on March 13, 2012 the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) and the Consumer Affairs Agency enforced an order for measures to be taken against Sol, Inc. so as to demand compliance with the regulations found in Article 3, Item 1 and Article 4 of the Act concerning methods of e-mail transmission, based on Article 7 of the Act.

Target of order

Business name	Sol, Inc.
Location	3-6-1 Higashi-Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Representative	Tomoyasu Fujii
Established	January 9, 2009
Capital stock	1 yen

Facts regarding violation

Advertising and publicity targets	Self-managed “Tiara” and “Love x 2” websites
Confirmed transmission period	“Tiara”:  July 1, 2011 to February 8, 2012 “Love x 2”:  December 1, 2010 to February 8, 2012
Number of consultations stemming from receipt of special e-mail	“Tiara”: 7,258consultations with 416 persons “Love x 2”: 11,541 consultations with 650 persons (The total number of e-mail consultations transmitted to the Japan Data Communications Association)
Details of violation	E-mail advertising for the “Tiara” and Love x 2” websites was transmitted without the consent of recipients. Also, items regulated by law were not displayed in the bodies of the advertising and publicity e-mails transmitted for “Love x 2”.
Related laws and ordinances	Article 3, Item 1 (Special E-mail Transmission Restrictions), and Article 4 (Responsibility for Representation)

References

○Consumer Affairs Agency website:
http://www.caa.go.jp/index.html