Hacker News Reader

> ...why?

So that if somebody mis-types their address and ends up entering mine, I don't get bombarded with crap that I don't want. It's incredibly annoying when this happens.

This service sends one email. Confirmation would just mean you get bombarded with the exact same number of unwanted messages: 1.

Confirmation would still be useful, though, to let the actual user realize they entered the wrong address.

It sounds as though it actually sends you multiple emails

This is typically so you can't simply subscribe someone else using their email. The 'victim' would only get a single email and they'd have to subscribe to keep receiving them. It also avoids typos etc.

I had the impression that you chose a standard you care about and it is going to send exactly one email. With confirmation, that would become two.

http://www.lsoft.com/resources/optinlaws.asp