The Economist takes a look at charging for email — in the context of reducing spam. The article mentions Goodmail Systems — a Silicon Valley startup seeking to commercialize an economic system that would allow valid emails to float to the top over spam.
While this idea has been talked about for quite a while, I frankly don’t see much of a difference between simply supporting digitally signed email from trusted sources — without the additional economic gimmickry of buying stamps, etc. On the other hand, some smart people are behind Goodmail — and they obviously believe this is the right approach.
One reply on “Make ‘Em Pay?”
Wouldn’t digitally signed email help address the problem with phishing, too?
It also seems a bit less complicated tahn the Goodmail solution.