Gates says buying e-stamps would solve spamming

[buckmasterson]

Link

I guess since his software can't stop it, he thinks a penny a stamp would. Sounds like the big concern is who would handle the money. Betcha Bill has the answer to that too!

 

[element]

"NEW YORK (AP) -- If the U.S. Postal Service delivered mail for free, our mailboxes would surely runneth over with more credit-card offers, sweepstakes entries, and supermarket fliers. That's why we get so much junk e-mail: It's essentially free to send. So Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates, among others, is now suggesting that we start buying "stamps" for e-mail. "

Don't our current mailboxes already runneth over with credit card offers, sweepstakes entries and supermarket fliers? The "snail mail spammers" will continue to spam our mail and email boxes alike seeing as mail costs don't stop them from sending paper junk mail right now.

In other news, Gates may have already won $1,000,000 in the publisher's clearinghouse sweepstakes. (visualize Dick McMahon and Edhead Clark's grinning faces on the front) Oh but perhaps I have those names reversed.

 

[BugsBunny1078]

Sounds like he wants to rape us rather than make some simple spam blocking software. We will just use a different and free format for email if this comes about.

 

[LordMagnusKain]

I've got another solution:

priority-keys;

setup sub-folders with user-set keys that mail goes to based on the priority key given, so you can have the office e-mail you at jo@e.com:1234 while you can have those porno sights you signed up for e-mail you at jo@e.com:666 and you can have anyone who doesn't know a particular key just end up in a default box. Anything that goes to multiple boxes can to to the 'spam' folder.

 

[dmcowen674]

I didn't look to see if the thread still exists but I posted in my Spam thread how paying for E-mail has been theor goal from day one.

 

[MovingTarget]

Originally posted by: LordMagnusKain
I've got another solution:

priority-keys;

setup sub-folders with user-set keys that mail goes to based on the priority key given, so you can have the office e-mail you at jo@e.com:1234 while you can have those porno sights you signed up for e-mail you at jo@e.com:666 and you can have anyone who doesn't know a particular key just end up in a default box. Anything that goes to multiple boxes can to to the 'spam' folder.

Interesting in principle... Has this been proposed before?

 

[CADsortaGUY]

I run my own email server - which end gets "charged"? How are they going to regulate it? Who says I won't come up with a text send application/protocol that is different from email? How about instant messaging? I'll be damned if I'm going to pay for instant messaging. This all is ofcourse as long as I pay for internet access. If the internet was free then I wouldn't be as concerned about these individual usage fees because I wouldn't use them as much. I wonder if they'd start charging people per post on bbs'

CkG