Checking out some Yahoo! News, Yahoo!, Inc. and (gulp) America Online have come up with a way to get email directly into your inbox, bypassing spam filters. The cost for this "e-postage" will range in 1/4th of a cent to 1 cent for 1 "e-stamp" (1 stamp per message).

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060206/ap_on_...DltBHNlYwM3MTY-

Related Links:
http://goodmailsystems.com/

My views:
Bill Gates first came up with the idea for this 1 cent thing (just another money maker for him) but personally, I think it is stupid. The whole reason for email, is that it is FREE and instant delivery. I don't have to waste 39 (?) cents per message and have it arrive two days later. That is the whole reason for email.

"Yeah, so, it is only one cent!" YES, BUT, no one wants to pay for email. I most certianly do not. I don't mind cleaning out my spam box everyday, but still, my spam box catches 4 of 5 spam messages per day. I'm good. Anyways, the last time I checked, the Internet was free. (Except for bandwidth)

[N]F

Uhh ... the first paragraph or two of the Yahoo! News link that you gave clarifies the issue.

They aren't trying to charge EVERYONE to send e-mails. They're just offering a service that charges people who *choose* to send e-mails that bypass spam filters. So unless you're having problems with your messages being dumped into spam folders by mistake, you probably won't care about this service.

This service is geared to larger businesses and corporations, not individual/personal users. I don't think that we'll be made to pay for our e-mails anytime soon.

Uh-oh ... looks like they've come up with a new way of making money ... from spam! If spammers started paying money for a sure-fire way for spam to reach the victim's inbox then it'll become a bloody nuisance. I'm not too keen on seeing this happen. I get my share of spam everyday and it's not pleasant at all.

But whether they pay or not, spamming is still an offence isn't it? And if the web-corporation itself allows emails to bypass spam-filters, that makes them an accomplice and answerable to a court of law right?

Well, it had to happen one day, and I think that this is just the thin end of the wedge, eventually, we will all have to pay to use email.

For those of you who think it will not happen, ask yourself: do you really think that something like the internet will remain free for ever?

Companies see it as something to make money which isn't doing so at present, remember, there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Uuugh. This just basically means more spam for us right? I mean I wouldn't mind if it was like $1 an email, it would put them out of business, but it seems like we'll all be getting spam again, just like the old days. Am I right? - By the
way, I hope Google doesn't follow this. I mean, they do do no evil =P.

this isnt that bad as this is only offered with the Yahoo mail service and AOL mail service, since most big companies send out thier advertisments from thier own mail server they cant really buy a stamp if thier not using a Yahoo or AOL mail service.

And really its not that big of a change just another money making idea and i dont think its that much to worry about. AOL and Yahoo maybe offering to sell stamps that alows emails to bypass thier spam filters but really, unless the spammer uses a AOL or Yahoo mail service this just wont work or am i looking at this in an optimistic way?