Amidst all of the conversations on Net Neutrality, a related issue has gone unremarked: the variable pricing of e-mail communications. There are a number of solutions being tested that address the deterioration of trust around e-mail communications. One of the more controversial is AOL's new Certified Mail system:
AOL has proposed a pay-to-send model that is being criticized as "AOL's E-Mail Tax." Under this system, e-mail senders incur mail costs in exchange for preemptively identifying its messages as "good" e-mail. This doesn't prevent spam from being sent; it merely prioritizes the paid mail. Objectors such as DearAOL.com worry that there is an incentive for AOL (or any other ISP) to move senders to the paid e-mail system, and at the same time neglect service and support for the free e-mail system. The anti-tax coalition estimates that if all of AOL's "good" mail were to migrate to the paid system, incremental revenue to AOL adds up to roughly $300 million annually.
Some of the leaders in the field started a dialogue on this issue at the 2006 NTC. Bill Pease, the CTO of GetActive (a provider of online communications support for nonprofits) proposes that we need a trust overlay for e-mail. He sees Goodmail as the first end-to-end solution for what has become an industry challenge: spam and malware. (Goodmail provides certified e-mail services for a per-message fee.) Pease believes that GetActive's clients need something like this now - and if they are a big brand subject to phishing (such as the Red Cross), then a solution is needed yesterday. If the nonprofit sector is to keep pace with commercial e-mail issues, then these problems must be addressed. Whether it's through Goodmail's service offering or some other mechanism, GetActive's clients need to develop trust with their constituents.
Danny O'Brien, Activism Coordinator for the EFF, totally disagrees with AOL's approach. (Disclosure note: Omidyar Network is an investor in the EFF.) O'Brien recognizes that AOL needs to take responsibility for these issues, but thinks that Goodmail can't be the only solution. EFF's self-proclaimed expertise is in "unintended consequences," and their main concern here is that certification, protection, and other spam solutions develop in the "right" way. (Of course, who decides which way is the "right" way?)
Objectors to Certified Mail think that the idea of certified e-mail is fine. Problems arise when you look at rising competition in the ISP market. When AOL captures over half of the Goodmail charge, it has a perverse incentive to encourage spam. Spam becomes a revenue center. At the same time, O'Brien worries that the Goodmail approach will reduce AOL's incentive to develop anti-spam technologies, which are a cost center.
The online community manager (didn't get his name) for Free Press posits that a two-tiered Internet will provide privileges to commercial speech - privileges that nonprofits and individuals can't afford. Richard Gingras, Goodmail CEO, promptly responded with his complaint that free e-mail is actually an expensive, recipient-pay mechanism. If the average ISP receive $20/month per subscriber, and is spending $0.25 of that to fight e-mail, then 1.25% of their total overhead is spent on fighting spam. (Does anyone agree on how much is too much?) Gingras vows that there are ways to monitor free e-mail to ensure that it doesn't become disadvantaged, but those ways weren't revealed in this discussion.
GetActive rallied to Goodmail's side, reminding folks that peer-to-peer messaging isn't covered by Goodmail certification, and therefore is still free. Pease also brought up the issue of reputation - an area that is still completely unaddressed once people leave the overseeing of walled gardens.
From here, the Innovation Funders Network-sponsored conversation devolved into a cage fight between Goodmail and the EFF. Free Press also got some licks in, blaming GetActive for standing passively and not defending the nonprofits that it serves.
The next day, there was a formal debate on this topic. Representatives from AOL, the EFF, Free Press, GetActive, Goodmail, and the Red Cross participated, with moderation by Ami Dar of Idealist. If the evening teaser reported above piqued your interest, you can get the fuller rout for yourself:
Streaming Video:
Streaming Audio:
Thanks to Joe Baker from N-TEN for sharing the streaming links so that we all have access.
Tags: christine herron christine.net space jockeys 06ntc nten nptech nonprofit community advocacy technology goodmail aol eff getactive
