Paid e-mail plan will make major changes
Mike's Politically Right
Michael Culver |
YOU’VE GOT TO hand it to the American capitalist system. American-based Internet Service Providers AOL and Yahoo are in the process of changing the way the World Wide Web does business.
AOL and Yahoo have partnered with Goodmail Systems in the hopes of charging companies for sending e-mails to members. Called the certified e-mail system, the system would require advertisers to pay $2 to $3 per 1,000 messages. For this fee, they guarantee delivery of e-mail messages provided the company is in good standing with the policies and guidelines that are in place to protect subscribers. As of now, AOL says The New York Times and American Red Cross have signed up for the service.
Proponents argue the new system is intended to protect users from spam, fraud and phishing attacks. And this sounds great. But wait a minute, recent figures from AOL stated its spam filtering system is capturing 85 percent of these attacks.
Proponents also argue the current system will force advertisers and Internet marketing specialists to be more selective and focus their campaigns in order to curb costs. This is a legitimate argument and should be of great interest to marketing and advertising firms who will be forced to hire a new breed of specialist to handle the demographic, geographic and technological trends of the World Wide Web.
Opponents argue the system is little more than a thinly disguised form of taxation that ISPs are initiating to increase bottom lines. Furthermore, they argue the intent of the Internet is to provide unlimited and equal access to all. Yet, I have never read that the Internet was created for this purpose. In fact, the Internet was created as a means of military communication, and adapted for public use by U.S. entrepreneurs with the intent of fulfilling American capitalistic goals.
Which brings me to the crux of the issue. We live in a capitalist system. How is this system any different than the U.S. Postal system, UPS or Federal Express? They’re not free and they force companies to focus advertisement to specific audiences for economic reasons. I’d also like to add that, although we get plenty of junk mail through the postal system, imagine how much more you would get if the service were free.
Moreover, I have never received any junk mail via UPS or Federal Express.
One last thought, if a company is going to try to scam subscribers or use information gathered in an unauthorized way, this system may create a way of monitoring and tracking companies that take advantage of subscribers.
The duck is laying the egg. Let’s let it hatch and grow before we call it an ugly duckling. For all we know, it may grow into beautiful swan.
E-mail your comments pro and con concerning the issue to [email protected]. And each subsequent week I will choose up to two statements that best describe the views of the readers and present these comments in the next weeks issue. Secondly, send comments and concerns about issues you feel need to be discussed.
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