Now, Electronic Postage Stamps For e-email

Controversy

time-preferential treatment for stamped email. America Online and Yahoo, two

of the world's largest providers of e-mail accounts, are about to start using

a system that gives special treatment to messages from companies that pay from

1/4 of a cent to a penny each to have them delivered.

AOL and Yahoo said 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

e-mail. In exchange for a payment and a pledge to contact only people who have

agreed to receive their messages, the companies would be ensured their e-mails

aren't diverted to spam folders or have images or Web addresses filtered out.

Both companies have

long filtered e-mail by searching for keywords commonly contained in spam and

fraudulent e-mail. 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.

However, critics of the

plan say that the companies risk alienating both their users and the companies

that send e-mail. The system will apply not only to mass mailings, but also to

individual messages like order confirmations from online stores and customized

low-fare notices from airlines. “AOL users will become dissatisfied when they

don't receive the e-mail that they want, and when they complain to the

senders, they'll be told, 'it's AOL's fault,' said Richi Jennings, an

analyst at Ferris Research, which specializes in e-mail. As for companies that

send e-mail, “some will pay, but others will object to being held to

ransom,” he said. “A big danger is that one of them will be big enough to

encourage AOL users to use a different e-mail service.”

Source-The

New York Times



Jasmine Kaur



jasminek@cybermedia.co.in