In July, two states will open up an ‘opt-out’ list to prohibit sending commercial email to children’s email addresses which are registered. ”New state laws in Michigan and Utah will prohibit sending commercial email to children’s email addresses which are registered with the states’ new ‘Do not email’ lists. Officials in both states have confirmed that their new registry web pages for parents — websites where parents and guardians can soon make their kids’ email addresses off limits to email marketers — will be activated this month. Michigan’s registry is scheduled to be available July 1 at Michigan.gov, and Utah’s website will debut its registry a few weeks later. These are the first states to start their own ‘Do not email’ registries. Nationally, the option of starting a national “Do not email” list was explored following the signing of the federal Can-Spam act in 2003, but such a list was deemed impractical and never materialized. … Michigan’s Darnoi is confident that his state’s child registry will survive initial criticism. The registry even has the endorsement of the state’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.” It’s certainly a new reality for parents these days, how to control access to the unregulated internet. While this kind of protection is a good start, teaching them to be cautious by default is the long term solution. Time to create some more email aliases..