>> E-postage is politically incorrect. But e-postage would render >> spam a non-problem.
Quite true, since it would relegate e-mail to an insignificant fringe application. I have some long rants about e-postage that I can dig up if people want them, but the problems boil down to: * Nobody has a clue how to build a global micropayment system, despite years of effort. * Even if we did, it would turn every ISP and network operator into a bank, which is not something that ISPs know how to do. * E-postage, particularly with real money, adds a whole new set of complex rules (for example, waiving postage from lists you want to get mail from), and new and exciting frauds and scams (like, say, viruses that send spam and use your e-postage in the process.) There's no reason to think that dealing with the new problems would be any easier than dealing with the problems we have now. I do think that large mailers and ISPs may find it mutually advantageous to make pay-for-delivery deals, but that won't help solve the problem of telling incoming legitimate individual and bulk mail from spam. -- John R. Levine, IECC, POB 727, Trumansburg NY 14886 +1 607 387 6869 [EMAIL PROTECTED], Village Trustee and Sewer Commissioner, http://iecc.com/johnl, Member, Provisional board, Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail _______________________________________________ spamcon-general mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.spamcon.org/mailman/listinfo/spamcon-general#subscribers Subscribe, unsubscribe, etc: Use the URL above or send "help" in body of message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Contact administrator: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
