> There's nothing more annoying than clicking that 'unsubscribe' link at the bottom of your email only to be asked to login first. But there's a reason, and to

> There's nothing more annoying than clicking that 'unsubscribe' link at the bottom of your email only to be asked to login first. But there's a reason, and to understand the reason, you need to understand something about the law. You want to be taken off the mailing list of a company that technically is spamming you, violating the law. But if the company can get you to sign in first, you technically become a customer, and they can then spam you endlessly and legally. But -- a company that requires you to sign in, in order to opt out, is breaking the law. The Can-Spam Act requires opt-out to be readily available and simple (see below). On that basis, sites that require signups to opt out are engaged in a criminal conspiracy. From the law: "You must honor a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days. You can’t charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying information beyond an email address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request." -- http://www.business.ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business http://www.business.ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-com... They're breaking the law. They are criminals.