Spam update: opt in vs opt out - MPs to the rescue!

Derek Wyatt, chairman of the House of Commons Associate Party Internet Group, is flying to Washington to try to persuade the US government that the EU's anti-spam directive ("opt in") is better than the US's proposed legislation ("opt out"). The EU position requires a company to get permission from a user to send adverts to them. The US position favours advertisers (i.e. spammers): it requires the user to request that a company cease sending them messages. Here's Derek's website.
(From Washington Post)