Yahoo! sent an email to all of its email users last week to inform them of changes to its privacy policy and marketing email settings. Yahoo has reset all email accounts to accept "marketing emails," aka Spam. Unless users go in and reset preferences, the Spam will come. The move comes after news that the company will begin charging fees for automatic forwarding of email, an optional service.

"We have created a new marketing preferences page which allows users to choose how Yahoo! communicates with them about Yahoo! products and services," stated a Yahoo! spokesperson. "Yahoo!'s products and services have changed and grown over the years and many were not available when users registered in the past. We are notifying users proactively via email of this change, after which they have 60 days after the date of the mailing to edit those marketing preferences, giving users plenty of time to decide how they want Yahoo! to communicate with them."

If you have a Yahoo! email account, check the email Yahoo! sent on March 29th for instructions on how to reset your preferences.