> policies regarding cost and "authentication". In that regard, > snail-mail is not a very good analogy for e-mail discussions. The basic premise is all the same: user -> need to send -> delivery charge. Fee collector does not matter: US Post, UPS, FedEx, DHL, Purolator or ISP. --- "Nelson, David" <dnelson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Phillip Hallam-Baker writes... > > > I agree that this demonstrates that the 'charge per email' > > schemes that people have don't work. > > I'm not so sure about that. The fact that there is a real cost > certainly changes the dynamics of unsolicited mail, as well as the > business model of the purveyors. Cost factors will not eliminate it, > but it might improve the "quality" of the offers and reduce the quantity > of messages. > > > But if postal mail recipients could impose filters they would. > > Indeed. > > > And there is in point of fact an entire police force tracking > > down scam artists using the postal mail. > > Right. > > One additional distinction is that most unsolicited mail in the US > (typically called junk mail) is mailed at discounted bulk postage rates. > In order to mail at bulk rates, an organization needs a permit from the > post office. This involves some level of "authentication". Of course, > mail sent at first class or second class postage rates can be sent > anonymously. However, I get very (very) few pieces of junk mail sent at > first or second class rates. It's all bulk rate mail. This is another > example of the cost of mailing driving the behavior set. > > A second distinction is that the US Postal System (in the US) is a > government sanctioned monopoly, and in many countries the postal system > is still a government agency. When you have a single entity acting as > the receiver of all outgoing mail, it makes it much easier to enforce > policies regarding cost and "authentication". In that regard, > snail-mail is not a very good analogy for e-mail discussions. > > > _______________________________________________ > Ietf mailing list > Ietf@xxxxxxxx > https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Any questions? Get answers on any topic at www.Answers.yahoo.com. Try it now. _______________________________________________ Ietf@xxxxxxxx https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf