The Oberlandesgericht in Munich just ruled: A double opt-in checkmail can be an unsolicited commercial email, thus making it spam, if the sender cannot prove a valid prior consent to the sending of advertisements. The court said that an email does not have to include an explicit representation of a promotion to be considered as commercial. Asking for a click to confirm the wish to subscribe is enough. In some way, even this email drives the business. Thus, it’s promotional. As everyone can choose Munich as their legal venue, this means: using double opt-in is risky again. And there’s no alternative. (At least none that pays off.)