= Jennifer =
Active Member
Yahoo, AOL announce email 'postage' fee
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/02/06/1139074140393.html?from=top5
Does a decision by two of the world's biggest email account providers to offer a fee-based email delivery service signal the end of free email as we know it?
Probably not ... yet.
But the decision by Yahoo and America Online (AOL) to charge senders an optional fee to send email directly to a user's mailbox without first passing through junk mail filters could effectively mean that not all emails are created equal.
The service will effectively mean that emailers that pay the fee will have their messages tagged as if they were "special delivery" emails.
And those who pay will be more likely to see their messages get through to the intended recipient than those who choose the fee free option.
The Yahoo and AOL fees, which would cost up to one US cent per email, are the latest attempts to weed out unsolicited ads, commonly called spam, and identity theft scams.
The senders must promise to contact only people who have agreed to receive their messages, or risk being blocked entirely.
In exchange for paying, email senders will be guaranteed their messages will not be filtered and will bear a seal alerting recipients they are legitimate.
Companies that would use this service typically send out of man thousands of emails to subscribers of electronic newsletters and alerts.
Both companies have long filtered email by searching for keywords commonly contained in spam and fraudulent email.
AOL also strips images and web links from many messages to prevent the display of pornographic pictures and malicious web addresses.
Both practices sometimes falsely identify legitimate messages as junk mail, making life difficult for businesses that rely on email.
"We were hearing not only from members but also email partners that they wanted a different way of delivering email that would stand out in the in box and would guarantee them delivery," said spokesman Nicholas Graham, adding that AOL, a division of Time Warner, will start offering the service in the next two months.
Spokeswoman Karen Mahon said today that Yahoo will begin offering a similar service in the coming months.
The plan, while it is optional and would apply to only a fraction of people sending email, amounts to a reversal in the economics of the internet because it would charge message senders rather than those receiving them.
The current model has led to the proliferation of spam and so-called phishing scams because the people perpetuating them can turn a profit even when only a minority of recipients respond, analysts say.
AOL and Yahoo say the program, which is being offered through a company called Goodmail Systems, will target banks, online retailers and other groups that send large amounts of email.
Companies that do not want to pay a fee will be able to send email to Yahoo and AOL members exactly as they have in the past, Graham and Mahon said.
agencies
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/02/06/1139074140393.html?from=top5
Does a decision by two of the world's biggest email account providers to offer a fee-based email delivery service signal the end of free email as we know it?
Probably not ... yet.
But the decision by Yahoo and America Online (AOL) to charge senders an optional fee to send email directly to a user's mailbox without first passing through junk mail filters could effectively mean that not all emails are created equal.
The service will effectively mean that emailers that pay the fee will have their messages tagged as if they were "special delivery" emails.
And those who pay will be more likely to see their messages get through to the intended recipient than those who choose the fee free option.
The Yahoo and AOL fees, which would cost up to one US cent per email, are the latest attempts to weed out unsolicited ads, commonly called spam, and identity theft scams.
The senders must promise to contact only people who have agreed to receive their messages, or risk being blocked entirely.
In exchange for paying, email senders will be guaranteed their messages will not be filtered and will bear a seal alerting recipients they are legitimate.
Companies that would use this service typically send out of man thousands of emails to subscribers of electronic newsletters and alerts.
Both companies have long filtered email by searching for keywords commonly contained in spam and fraudulent email.
AOL also strips images and web links from many messages to prevent the display of pornographic pictures and malicious web addresses.
Both practices sometimes falsely identify legitimate messages as junk mail, making life difficult for businesses that rely on email.
"We were hearing not only from members but also email partners that they wanted a different way of delivering email that would stand out in the in box and would guarantee them delivery," said spokesman Nicholas Graham, adding that AOL, a division of Time Warner, will start offering the service in the next two months.
Spokeswoman Karen Mahon said today that Yahoo will begin offering a similar service in the coming months.
The plan, while it is optional and would apply to only a fraction of people sending email, amounts to a reversal in the economics of the internet because it would charge message senders rather than those receiving them.
The current model has led to the proliferation of spam and so-called phishing scams because the people perpetuating them can turn a profit even when only a minority of recipients respond, analysts say.
AOL and Yahoo say the program, which is being offered through a company called Goodmail Systems, will target banks, online retailers and other groups that send large amounts of email.
Companies that do not want to pay a fee will be able to send email to Yahoo and AOL members exactly as they have in the past, Graham and Mahon said.
agencies
