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You know you shouldn't add email addresses to your list unless you get permission first. But, can you help the process along a little bit by prechecking the opt-in permission box on your Web registration form?
We say don't. CAN-SPAM defines permission as "affirmative consent," not the passive "negative consent" that comes with leaving a prechecked box alone. You're asking your users to say "no" to you before they even get to know you. How can you build trust and loyalty that way?
Want a legal reason? CAN-SPAM doesn't explicitly outlaw prechecked boxes, but a New York state judge ruled in 2002 that they don't constitute true opt-in permission. So if you feel you must use prechecked boxes, to comply with the "affirmative consent" role in the CAN-SPAM Act, you'll need to add a disclaimer in your emails that the message is a "Promotional" or "Advertising" message.
True, you won't collect as many valid addresses if you use an unchecked box. But you'll know that the people who are on your list are there because they want to be, not because you roped them in, and that will pay off in a higher-value list.
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