The ifeminists.net email newsletter has been shut down because of laws passed by Michigan and Utah to regulate email sent to children.

Once an email address is on the registry, commercial emailers are prohibited from sending it anything containing advertising, or even just linking to advertising, for a product or service that a minor is otherwise legally prohibited from accessing, such as alcohol, tobacco, gambling, prescription drugs, or adult-rated material. — spamfo.co.uk

The problem is, if your email contains a link to a site which then links to another site which contains any of the prohibited items, you are in violation — even though the other site is completely out of your control. And worse, the laws may apply to non-commercial emailers as well, if the email contains links to commercial sites.

This is, in part, why I do not offer email subscriptions of any kind, only RSS feeds. If I did, I could be considered a “commercial emailer” because I happen to make a few dollars a month off this site, and thus all these sites out of my control will then cause me to get in trouble if I happen to link to a site which in turn links to something prohibited by these laws.

Yes, this is ridiculous. But if you send users email, I urge you to suspend your email lists until you have had a chance to evaluate these laws and how they may impact you. More about this law from Groklaw. Don’t risk “imprisonment for not more than 3 years or a fine of not more than $30,000.00, or both.”