"Ten days ago, Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman, told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that spam would not be a problem in two years, in part because of systems that would require people to pay money to send e-mail. Yahoo, meanwhile, is quietly evaluating an e-mail postage plan being developed by Goodmail, a Silicon Valley start-up company.

"The fundamental problem with spam is there is not enough friction in sending e-mail," said Brad Garlinghouse, Yahoo's manager for communications products.

The company is intrigued by the idea of postage, Mr. Garlinghouse said, because it would force mailers to send only those offers a significant number of people might accept. "All of a sudden, spammers can't behave without regard for the Internet providers' or end users' interests, " he said.

Neither Yahoo nor Microsoft have made any commitment to charging postage, in part because the idea still faces substantial opposition among Internet users.

"Damn if I will pay postage for my nice list," said David Farber, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, who runs a mailing list on technology and policy with 30,000 recipients. He said electronic postage systems are likely to be too complex and would charge noncommercial users who should be able to send e-mail free. "
more here

charging for e-mail..what will they want to do next..put an oxygen tank on your back and charge for breathing>?

Please, Gates, please oh please end spam... I get 5 spam e-mails a day and it must end! help me!


Go the **** away Gates.

I knew that's what Gates had in mind when he started talking about charging spammers. stamping everyone

Doesn't he have enough damn money? Stop trying to make things so uniform Gates, we don't want your BS. The internet is special, it doesn't need to be like our postal service.

Yeah..charge for Emails! great idea...c'mon, it works for snail mail right?

I manage spam just fine myself.

Here's what I do - I delete it.
Ok, moving on to life's next problem that I want Bill to solve for me.

That hassle is much less than the hassle of paying for every email that I send. I'd just quit using email. One day we'll all have freenet on our computers and we can let the idiots ruin things however they like.


By the way, Bill.

They charge for postage for regular mail and everybody still gets 90% crap they don't need, 10% things they do need. Someone already tried solution you idiot. It didn't work you dolt.

Also, the fact that Gate$ backs it, is a blessing enough for me. he is money. we are not. who will win?

"That hassle is much less than the hassle of paying for every email that I send. I'd just quit using email. One day we'll all have freenet on our computers and we can let the idiots ruin things however they like."

Cant agree more Sherminator

Gates would say something like this.
Way to c**kblock freedom of communication, you dolt.

What email providers does he own, beside hotmail? I got rid of hotmail, there was no way to block spam. So I went to Yahoo, cuz you can block spam. F*ck hotmail. Hotmail s*cks and Bill receives it.

msn...

Gee...ain't nuthin sacred or free in this world anymore. Why don't they just take the word FREE out of freedom and add another "o"......spells DOOM!

Why does this look like the gates greater control of the net and everything computer plan?
This smacks of all the other crap microsoft wants to ram down our throats. every time you do something the microsoft program phones home to tell big brother what you are doing or what you are using. I am no lover of spam but it is the lesser when compaired to microsoft control.

If it costs money to send email, people will invent a new offline messaging system as a way around it. Look what happened when Napster was shut down. I have no problem with that. The current email system (POP/SMTP) is total garbage anyways.

I can manage my e-mail nicely without having to deal with much spam, doubt I get over 3 a week.

Charging postage would be the surest way to eliminate me sending any e-mails to anyone. As it is, it is the way I communicate by writing.

From seeing to my mortage to checking on when my computer will be repaired and ready to pick up. Why pay long distance phone charges when the written word does just as nicely?

Dumbest idea yet. All you have to do is not accept email from others than people on a designated list. problem solved.

Its not hard to send an "e-mail" without necissary going through a service. Anyone who's ever used ICQ knows that you can send messages to users that are offline and they recieve them whenever they sign on. No big woop.

What this makes annoying is convieniance. If I'm doing something in a lab, I'm going to e-mail something to me so I can work on it when I get back. Now I'll have to find a way around that...

Way to go Bill... I swear I'd be running Linux if it supported my hardware...

I'd be running linux if Linux were running games.

Hotmail! I forgot about that.

My god, Bill Gates is the biggest reason for spam on planet earth. The whole reason it's free, as I'm sure you all know, is that you become a marketing guinea pig for the rest of your life. If Bill Gates wants to stop spam, then Bill Gates can do away with hotmail.

Or we could all sign up for free Hotmail accounts, and then give out our addresses to the websites that reap for spamlists........ like I do.

zippythechipmunk@hotmail.com

how can they put postage stamps on email when people can run their mail servers?

It's easy to see why spam is such a big deal, the bulk of the unwashed masses are not setting their email filters either by ignorance or apathy. Like some of my forebearers that died with the scars of nazi serial numbers being removed from their forearms, looks like I will die with the marking of microsoft on mine. Heil Gates!

It's way too late for e-mail postage. To many buisnesses and people depend on constant e-mails as a part of day to day function. If there was a postage it would be going to the government and not MS. I don't really understand how people end up getting hundres of SPAMs a day. I only get a few a week.

If it cost money to provide email they would have been charging for it at the begining. If it doesn't cost anything to provide it then I don't think someone should be charging me for it.

I must say I would probably stop using email if they started to charge, even a penny. The problem is really simple actually. There is no accountability. People can send messages to servers without leaving a trail or having to have any kind of authorizations. If servers were to secure their email servers there wouldn't be a problem.

Stop thinking that you would have to pay for e-mail. For you and me, e-mail would still be as free as it is now (unless your a spammer). The only way you can get charged is if you send unasked for e-mail to someone.

The way it works is that if you didn't want to get an e-mail you mark it as spam and the spammer is charged for it.

This will lead to companies being VERY careful not to send you aynthing that you didn't ask for, in fear of being charged for it.

Consumer, it does cost money to host an e-mail server. The thing is with services such as hotmail, a few banner ads seen by thousands, probably millions pays for that.

Actually, Jay, the idea is to charge everyone, because spammers wouldn't be able to afford the thousands of dollars a day to send spam to millions of people.

As to my thoughts on this, I think it's all just a way to force the public to get credit cards. You know that they'd make you use one to send an e-mail, for "convenience". More discrimination, is all it is.

Gates is an asshole, and all the money in the world doesn't fix that. A proctologist might make him less inflammed, but he will still be an asshole .

I'm seeing a growing trend... Peer-2-Peer E-Mail anyone?

NiceGuy,

Nice catch. I agree it is just another way to get the public on credit cards as well. I do not own a credit card, nor do I ever plan on owning any more than one, which I would intend on using for emergency purposes if necessary.

The currency of this country is the dollar. Until they change the currency to "credits," which you earn according to how much you work and what you do when you work, I will not use a credit card. My life is not an arcade. It does not depend on "credits earned."

Consequentially - Having never used a credit card, I get about one piece of snail mail junk mail per month, and 99% of the time it's pizza coupons. There's no doubt they're pushing toward the public toward spending their credit instead of their dollar. I am not a whore. I will not submit to it.

RocketGib - it's called Freenet. http://freenetproject.org

Bill Gates will burn in Hell.

I promise, you will see a revolution if dumbsh*ts like Gates ever do more than think about charging people to send email.

This is one of the oldest hoaxes in internet history.

How can the richest man in the world be the biggest dumbsh*t in the world?

It's easy. He lives in the United States where the people who let him have a monopoly and do whatever he wants, and take dirty money from him are among the sleaziest people in the world today. That's right, if you haven't already shouted it out 15 times, it's the "United" States Congress.

Freenet and Linux are the future. I'm thinking about getting lindows pretty soon.

If they ever put a price on e-mail it will reduce the value of the internet to absolutely perfectly worthless! !

I have a good working spam filter, it gets everything. I simply have my filter send a reply to anyone who sends me a message that is not on my trusted address list and they have the option to reply and beg to be put on my list or use the backdoor, which they need to put the word "antispam" in the subject line and it will come through. I don't delete the unrecognized but they get filed in a different folder that i can view at my ease. It works because spammers dont use a real reply address so they never get the message on how to get into my system, not that they would ever go through the hassle for one person. The entire problem is that when someone sends an email they just send it and its done. They should be required to verify their presence in some way. they would be forced to use a real address.

Damn, I'm 20 and I have never used a credit card, I hope I never have to. I don't like the idea that I'm spending money that I can't see, therefore, if I can't see it, I'm more likely to spend more of it.

Does this comes as no surprise that Gates wants us to pay for emails. This is the same guy who is against freeware.

I get over 150 spam emails a day, and my ISP sends about 99% of those to my junk mail box. I'm not about to start paying to send email just to eliminate about 2 or 3 spam messages that hit actually show in my box.

And of course Bill Gates supports it, he could actually afford to send mass mail the entire world...

My 2cents: To date, spam's all free advertising (I think, not being a spammer, I'm not sure). Right now, advertising of any kind costs money, TV, radio, print, etc. and it's owned by the big conglomerates. No political candidate without any money could never make a serious run at the top offices without a decent ad campaign. Charging for e-mail and spam would put in the hands of advertising those with the most money, and thusly, under their control. Bill Gates makes another few billion dollars and the Establishment, or whatever you want to call them, maintains control of another branch of the media. Are you ready for FoxSpam?

Fuck You Gates!! I knew it would only be a matter of time before some greedy bastard tried to charge for email. Well I already pay enough to be connected and from there on its free and thats how it will stay oh great prophet of greed...Hows THIS IDEA? If youre getting spammed to death, you call your ISP and ask for a new email addy to replace your old one. Problem solved with no need for any mail washing crap. How EASY IS THAT GATES?? How come youre rich and I aint?

Its just another ploy to nickel and dime people to death. I have a much better solution: Get a very reliable FREE Spam blocker.

Next thing you know, they'll try to charge people $0.50 for everytime someone on AIM uses file transfer. pfft get real you capitalistic bastards.

Hmm, thought I'd see who the spammers were using. First 12 out of 212 today. What a waste.

dik666wpqp@msn.com
wnpoza@netscape.net
info@insta-bulk.com
ashcl@yahoo.com
kalnjmmvedi@yahoo.com
vwmtkk@usa.com
bkq44vnxyi@netscape.com
cbtxammydszqy@hotmail.com
TPRLDRECOSGY@yahoo.com
uatjn@msn.com
riccj283sq@msn.com
p49zvhjg@yahoo.com

So who would administer this e-mail stamp scheme??? Microsoft? the USPS?

You are down the crapper either way...

Well, so much for the "Information "Superhighway" we were all supposed to to enjoy and that was to put everyone on a equal global footing.

It is fast becoming the "Information Tollbooth" where the only ones that can enjoy are the ones that can afford to pay and keep paying and paying and paying.