2008 Woodie Awards
EDITORIAL: Buying stamps for e-mail? No thank you, Bill Gates.
Staff Editorial, The Lariat (Baylor U.)
Issue date: 3/10/04 Section: Opinion
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(U-WIRE) WACO, Texas - Most Internet users don't think twice about the number of e-mails we send each day. We sign on to our respective e-mail programs to check our electronic mailbox (or, for some of us, multiple mailboxes), forward jokes and stories to friends, send quick one-line replies to co-workers or type out detailed letters to friends and family overseas, all without worrying about the hassles of postage.
If the U.S. Postal Service operated under these circumstances, sending greetings via "snail mail" would be more commonplace, and some argue, our postal mailboxes would be full of the same sweepstakes offers and spam littering many e-mail accounts.
Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp. chairman, is among a few people suggesting Internet users start buying "stamps" to send e-mails. He and others argue the reason so many e-mail users receive large amounts of junk mail is because it's free to use.
A team at Microsoft Research has been working on plans for a postage system for e-mails since 2001, The Associated Press reported. Their idea incorporates a "good faith" puzzle, requiring e-mail users to take about 10 seconds to solve a common math problem to purchase postage. Spammers, who send millions of e-mails at a time, wouldn't investigate the time needed to solve all those math problems, Microsoft asserts. Another company, Goodmail Systems Inc., proposes charging bulk mailers a penny per message to help curb spam. Their mail would bypass spam filters, and they argue, for spammers, all those pennies would add up fast.
We disagree with Gates and Goodmail. While it would be a relief not to find countless pieces of spam in our e-mail boxes, the convenience of sending quick e-mails would be deteriorated by the programs.
What about groups like nonprofit agencies, church groups and parents' organizations whose mass e-mails replace unnecessary phone trees and word-of-mouth announcements? Should they have to pay for sending mass e-mails? The best way to stop spam isn't to punish those of us who are using our e-mail for the right reasons, but to crack down on spammers using e-mail services for the wrong ones.
Internet users have become increasing reliant on e-mail for its convenience, simplicity, and let's face it, cheap operating costs. We're already paying monthly fees for Internet hook-ups - let us continue enjoying the inexpensive benefits of free e-mail.
Editorial board vote: 7-0
If the U.S. Postal Service operated under these circumstances, sending greetings via "snail mail" would be more commonplace, and some argue, our postal mailboxes would be full of the same sweepstakes offers and spam littering many e-mail accounts.
Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp. chairman, is among a few people suggesting Internet users start buying "stamps" to send e-mails. He and others argue the reason so many e-mail users receive large amounts of junk mail is because it's free to use.
A team at Microsoft Research has been working on plans for a postage system for e-mails since 2001, The Associated Press reported. Their idea incorporates a "good faith" puzzle, requiring e-mail users to take about 10 seconds to solve a common math problem to purchase postage. Spammers, who send millions of e-mails at a time, wouldn't investigate the time needed to solve all those math problems, Microsoft asserts. Another company, Goodmail Systems Inc., proposes charging bulk mailers a penny per message to help curb spam. Their mail would bypass spam filters, and they argue, for spammers, all those pennies would add up fast.
We disagree with Gates and Goodmail. While it would be a relief not to find countless pieces of spam in our e-mail boxes, the convenience of sending quick e-mails would be deteriorated by the programs.
What about groups like nonprofit agencies, church groups and parents' organizations whose mass e-mails replace unnecessary phone trees and word-of-mouth announcements? Should they have to pay for sending mass e-mails? The best way to stop spam isn't to punish those of us who are using our e-mail for the right reasons, but to crack down on spammers using e-mail services for the wrong ones.
Internet users have become increasing reliant on e-mail for its convenience, simplicity, and let's face it, cheap operating costs. We're already paying monthly fees for Internet hook-ups - let us continue enjoying the inexpensive benefits of free e-mail.
Editorial board vote: 7-0
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