that sucks. i hope it doesnt happen cuz then i will just chat. >

That's so funny.

i'd have to wait to see how this developes. there are many different ways to look at it. i don't mind the idea of a penny a stamp because its true, i wouldn't send more then 2 or 3$ a month (thats 200 emails! - and i get about 15 a day and send probboly 8 on my own). a spammer system having to buy postage would have to put out much more then that.

but then there is the other side.. like telemarketing, spammers probobly have the budjets to back up blowing 100$ a month on emails. so thats 10,000 emails. it might not be enough to stop them. and internet is already getting expensive - you pay so much, then have postage on top of that?

the idea of putting riddles or math problems to 'secure' an email would get taken out by programs that hack or computer the things on their own.

and they point out developing communities who even a penny a day adds up.

regardless of how serious everybody takes this article, the fact is: its your world, its your internet, and this stuff is going to start happening underneath you unless you step up to the plate about it. simple fact is, if you have an idea - email your state representative. put the system to use and express your concerns and you'll see lawmakers making their decisions based on your input.

_end fact

in my own opinion, i see laws and restrictions going in to stop spammers having more effect then imposing tarrifs on the humble community. and email has been getting mroe secure. you can stop all spam by limiting the people you get email from, if you're a low end internet user. it only takes a phone call to someone to set up with your email addie for future emails

i suppose they would divise a system where its split up into municipalities.. you can have a starbucks internet account and log in wherever you want, just debucts from your credit card. they could set something like that up to bill from anywhere. who gets it? there was speculation about an ISP doing it but - that wouldnt work either because there are isp's run out of people's living rooms. dunno. just keep an eye on it.

Hum, the idea wouldn't be that bad if it worked. I would be ready to pay 1 cent per email if it really got rid of spam.  But I'm not sure it would. Computing time? Hum, that's another idea I guess I could live with it.

I am very open to make many concessions to get rid of that pest that spam has become. I can receive 50 to 100 spam emails per day. And I mistakenly have d good emails because of it. When I open Outlook in the morning, I typically skim over very quickly the 50+ emails coming in, then I click on the first one, shift, click on the last one, then press . I hate junk mail, I hate junk mail...

indeed, they talk about computing time to authenticate email. but even there lies a problem for the small man. far too often im rushing to email something out at work either during crisis or deadline.. and the LAST thing i want to do is sit and click around for an extra 60 seconds just to get the email off to several people. call me impatient. but if you're frustrated/tired and just want to get back to your other tasks, that would proboboly give me stroke.

I first started using email in '84 and I have never had to pay anything to send an email. Maybe what you are referring to was specific to a particular service.

You know, they may put this into effect, and most people would use it, but like nearly everything else out there, I bet there will be a workaround..
So, if the whole point is to stop spammers, what happens when spammers get ahold of or work out the workaround for it? Spam still happens, and tons of people have to pay for something completely useless..

I think that email should stay free. It is one of the few things left in this world that is worth being free. I would stop using it if I had to pay for it. A real letter is much more personal, and a phone call is much more worthwhile. I have very little problems with spam because of the precautions I take. I understand that not everybody has the same email server as mine (and I find mine to be excellent most of the time). However people need to learn to think smarter rather then taking the easy way out. Postage on normal mail is to pay the postal workers. There is no entity I would be paying if I payed for emails. Email filters can be better, it is just a matter of time before they do get better. Until then be strong, don't give in to the easiest path. Wait for the light.

kongit - on the contrary, there are resources used when you send e-mail equivelent to the postal worker, and there has been an argument from some quarters for people to pay for bandwidth used rather than a flat rate ISP charge for some time. The owners of various transatlantic pipes at one stage were threatening to impose a bit-tax on trafic they carry for instance...the equipment, cables and people needed to keep the infrastructure of the Internet running is not free, we just happen to pay for it via ISP fees at the moment.

These argumants seem to have almost disappeared at the moment thankfully, so I don't expect e-mail charges or even bandwidth usage charges to come in...and most people looking at the idea of e-mail stamps have no intention of it being a financial cost.

E-mail filters are destined to fail ultimately as spammers can (and have to date) always reverse engineer them to circumvent them in creative ways...the same is true in a parallel way for anti-virus software. Anyone who thinks that having the latest a/v software is 100% protection is fooling themselves for example.

The computational idea isn't bad.
Have you ever gone to sign up at a site and part of the process is to enter the 'code'. That code is usually what appears to be a random gif or jpg of a string of numbers or letters.
Suppose sending email worked the same. When you click 'send', then you have to enter the 'code'. Seems it would stop the automated mailers that the spammers use.

really good idea... nice.

What about companies that send legitmate spam? Like the WinCustomize Newsletter, if you signed up, they have the right to send it to you. Same goes for any informational newsletter, or anything that involves an automated email response, like Amazon.com emailing you your invoice, or anything like that. E-mail does consist of more than just letters from person-to-person, you have to figure in these kinds of issues. So I don't see how "stamps" of any kind, whether it be computational or typing in a code will work. Paying for it on the other hand won't stop any email from being sent...it will just cost money. I can very much see that happening in the future, when there is no more postal mail aside from deliveries of goods.