In Maryland, state delegate Tanya Shewell is proposing a consumer protection bill (House Bill 357) that could affect direct response vehicles like newspapers, circulars and mass-coop mailings. The bill would require publishers to include a phone number where consumers could opt out of delivery.
Ironically, the bill is not intended to stop political flyers.
The bill can be found at http://mlis.state.md.us/2008rs/billfile/HB0357.htm
MD House Bill 357 Synopsis:
Prohibiting a publisher from delivering, or causing to be delivered, an unsolicited print publication to a residential address in the State unless the publication contains a specified notice; prohibiting a publisher from delivering, or causing to be delivered an unsolicited print publication after receiving notice from a resident to stop delivery; providing that a violation of the Act is an unfair or deceptive trade practice within the meaning of the Maryland Consumer Protection Act; etc.