Not giving freebies is of course an option, but then there is goodwill lost on that end instead.
It sucks both ways. At least I don't spam my users, but they of course only trust that assertion so far and I certainly don't blame them - there seems to have been a significant rise in email marketing in the last 6+ months - probably some annoying YC startup or two making it much too easy for sites I signed up for at some point but really don't want to hear from send me email... Tsk, tsk ;)