Social Media and E-mail permission marketing

We will have Robert Gardner, a local Internet and SEO expert on our Santa Clarita Radio Show.  He and I will banter back and forth about the best ways in which to incorporate Social Media into your life, business and how to protect your kids from it :-)

He will also get into the "permission" aspect of email marketing, opting people in to your email distribution lists without their permission...  Is it okay to do?  What about Legal?

Robert can be found on http://escv.com