News
 It’s
Inevitable – Email Will Require Payment
Email postage here we come? America Online is moving
forward with its plans to implement fees for
big-volume senders of email, but a lot of people are
fuming about how it could change the face of the
Internet.
According to published reports, political
organizations such as MoveOn.org Civic Action and
the AFL-CIO have spearheaded a campaign protesting
the pay-to-send email service. MoveOn.org sent out
an online petition criticizing AOL’s proposed paid
email program and collected more than 200,000
signatures, published reports state.
The email program would be akin to certified mail,
in which paid email would bypass spam filters and
deliver messages directly to users’ inboxes – the
so-called promised land for marketers. Various
reports state that AOL plans to launch the service
in the next 30 days or so.
MoveOn.org claims AOL’s pay-to-send email system
would not only hurt small businesses, charities and
civic organizing groups, but would also lead to
slower delivery. The groups argue that the certified
email service would alienate users and destroy the
Internet’s neutrality by giving the VIP treatment to
certain email.
AOL hopes that the new system would help reduce spam
and allow large companies to protect their brands
from phishers. Last January, both AOL and Yahoo
announced their plans to launch pay-to-send
services. While AOL has remained steadfast in their
plans, Yahoo is seemingly tentative. The online
giant has yet to give a definitive answer on whether
or not it will offer the pay-to-send email format.
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