Stamps for email?

I have three words-What a joke.

I think spam would be reduced if companies were more active in creating filters, and if spammers were actively prosecuted. For now, there is no real drawback to being a spammer.

And I don't know about everyone else-I still get a lot of junk mail.

Seems to me all Gates wants to do is get money. MSN is part of Microsoft, and they would rake a mint throught Hotmail.

There's another thing. What about those who haven't got a credit card or bank account? No one under 21 or 18 (depending on what country) has a credit card, without counting the ones of bad credit, and below that not everyone has savings bank accounts. (I do and it has an ATM, but for the only reason I do is because I had saved so much money I started finding it unsafe to have it on a shoebox). So how many people would be able to pay a service through the web? And what about all the minors who have their own email accounts? You need to have an email account just to have an instant Messenger.

More questions: What about other countries? What about those who would pay in euros or New Zealand dollars? Another thing: The same way that in some countries 500 dollars a month is enough to have full time servants and a big house, the same way, the same email fee in the US anyone may be able to pay may not be so much in another country.

I don't think this will go beyong rethoric.

I hate the idea - don't we pay to use the internet?????? That should be considered as "buying stamps" to email!

That was exactly my thought, Kellye. I already pay to use the internet. I shouldn't have to pay twice. Spam or no spam, paying per email is simply ludicris.

I have to agree with the sentiment that by paying to use the internet, you are also paying for the use of e-mail.

And as for free e-mail services, don't the companies make money from the advertising? Surely those big corporations out there aren't naive and are offering free advertising space?

I think you people did not read the article properly. The "stamp" idea is not simply one that relates to cash. The following quotes taken from the article is their idea of a "stamp"

"Instead of paying a penny, the sender would "buy" postage by devoting maybe 10 seconds of computing time to solving a math puzzle. The exercise would merely serve as proof of the sender's good faith."
"Time is money, and spammers would presumably have to buy many more machines to solve enough puzzles."

And the reason why there is so much spam is that all you need is one response out of every 10,000 for it to be profitable. So as long as you raise their operating cost it would help reduce the amount of spam. And in this sense I think the "stamp" idea is actuallyy quite good.

Prosecution / Litigation:
Even if a country introduce legislations against spam and actively prosecute it would not work since email can be sent from any country in the world. And if spammers set up their base of operations in a particular impoverished country and brought money into it, it is unlikely that country would introduce any legislations to stop it. Unless you get governments in richer country send aid to those impoverished nations.

Zombie Computers:
If I am not wrong 40% of spam are sent from home computers without the owner having any knowledge. Those mass email virus that are appearing in the news the past few months are created to support spam. The virus may create a program on your computer and that computer can send spam out without you realising it unless you have updated your anti-virus programs and also install a good firewall.

I do understand that the stamp idea wasn't just relating to the 1 cent per email idea. While spam annoys me as much as anyone, I also have to think about the legitimate newsletters that are sent out where this would also increase operating cost. For instance, I think most of us get MeowMews (Meowhoo) and/or Kitty Bytes (TCS). I'm not sure how many newletters Anne and Mary Anne send out, but I would imagine it to be in the thousands, combining both newsletters. And what about non-profit, charitable newsletters? For example, I voluntarily subscribe to a number of companion animal newsletters, like the SPCA, Paw Project, United Pet Way, etc. I'm sure at least some of the newsletters I subscribe to that keep me up to date on legislative issues and such are home-based organizations where even 10 seconds of computing time per valid, requested email would essentially shut down their ability to send out these newsletters.

Let me clarify my opinion.

I pay for the usage of the internet and its resources. This includes e-mail. I do not want to be solving math problems or word problems in order to send an e-mail. I get enough mental excercise from study, and that I do voluntarily.

Two things I would like to point out.

1) a_loveless_gem, it is your computer who solves the math not you.

2) From other articles I have read about similar 'stamp' ideas the system can be tweaked such that if you are in someone's "allowed" list, the "stamp" or 10 second computation would not be required. That way real mass emails that people want can be distinguished from spam.

My ISP filters a LOT of my spam mail for me. The spam filters were broken for a while and I got hundreds of spam emails a day. I keep outlook open sometimes, minimized so a message pops up when I get new mail. It was popping up every 2 minutes with about 10-20 spam emails. It was awful. I'm glad my ISP filters it. I just worry about the legitimate emails it filters in the process. Dang spammers.

I couldn't say it better

I think its easier to hit the delete button on spam mail than it would be to solve math/word problems. It irritates me to have to pick out the word in the box when you make a new email address or whatever.

One helpful tip I did learn is to delete all junk mail when you are not connected because once that message is opened, it shoots your address to other people's spam lists. I dont care, everything that isnt from someone on my address list is filed directly to the trash can anyways. There's really no reason to stop spammers when there are ways to prevent the spam--however annoying they are.