On the Newspaper Association of America's Digital Edge Web site, Attorney William Baker offers some basic advice to e-mail publishers about U.S. anti-spam laws.

In our experience, the Editorial departments at newspaper, magazines, and broadcasters generally obey anti-spam laws.However, we've seen (and stopped) some tabloids from forcibly opting in (an oxymoron) potential subscribers, and we've often seen print publications' Circulation or Advertising departments send unsolicited commercial marketing e-mail (which can include subscription solicitations).

All should e-mail only to people who have expressly opted-in to receive those e-mails from that specific publication.