Re: Free Commodities Are Abused


Len wrote:

> Free commodities are abused.
>
> I feel that a one-cent per outgoing email fee could be an
> effective anti-spam weapon. Perhaps a $10 fee for top-posting
> on certain news groups would mitigate the type of infestation
> that we are currently experiencing on s.s.p. I'm not sure how
> the Internet infrastructure is financed. However, if the U.S,
> taxpayer is picking up the tab, then the proper use of any fees
> is obvious.
>

An alternative is that you have some kind of digital cash cent "stamp",
that you can include with your outgoing mail. People can then set
their mailer to only accept mail if it includes the digital cent. The
person sending the mail will not get an acknowledge if they don't
include the stamp (or will probably get a message telling them the
delivery cost). You could set certain email addresses (from friends
etc) as free. This has the advantage of not requiring a central
change, just more and more people using an email client that marks
mails that aren't pre-paid for. In effect, you are being paid to "just
press delete" if you don't like the mail.

.