Email marketers may be surprised to discover they need to comply to the new Child Protection Registry laws taking effect in Michigan and Utah, meant to protect minors from receiving or viewing illegal products and services.

The registries are intended to maintain a list of do not email list. Minors and parents may add their email address to the list. Organization and schools may register the entire Internet domains.

Once an e-mail address is on the registry for more than 30 days, commercial e-mailers are prohibited from sending it anything containing — or 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.

E-mail senders are required to match their mailing lists against the registries on a monthly basis, for which they must pay both Michigan and Utah a per-e-mail-address fee. The Michigan law limits the fee to $0.03 per address, while the Utah law leaves it to the discretion of the state’s Department of Consumer Protection to set the fees.

If your business is not in any way related and contain unpermitted materials or links to them, then you don’t have to worry much about this new law. I can’t and don’t provide legal advice, so please consult your attorney for further information.

Senders found to be in violation of Utah’s law will face up to three years in jail and up to $30,000 in fines, as well as potential civil penalties of $1,000 per message. Violators of Michigan’s law face similar fines and jail time, and may be liable to civil penalties of $5,000 per message or $250,000 per day of violation.

Read the whole story at ClickZ News.