That may be technically the case, but IBM, Oracle, and Sybase/SAP have all asked for permission to keep sending technical newsletters. No one wants to take a chance that some bozo is going to interpret a technical notice as being spam and laying charges accordingly.
What were simple mailing lists now require an authorization database to comply. In many cases companies are just going to shut down the lists rather than go to the expense/hassle of authorization databases or risking non-compliance claims.
On the bright side, it's nice to see US companies abiding by foreign laws for a change. For far too long they've gone with the attitude "we're on US soil, so we only have to follow US law", but now they're finally waking up to the fact that they have to follow the laws of every jurisdiction they do business in, or stop doing business there.