• On TechRepublic: Five super-secret features in Windows 7
February 28, 2006 5:39 PM PST

AOL defies protesters of fee-based guaranteed e-mail plan

by Elinor Mills
  • Font size
  • Print
  • Post a comment

Despite a protest from a coalition of consumer groups, America Online says it will stick with its plan to charge mass e-mailers a fee for guaranteed delivery of messages to AOL subscribers. AOL plans to offer the service within 30 days, AOL said. "Mark it on your calendars," AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham was quoted as saying in on Tuesday.

A 50-member coalition, including MoveOn.org Civic Action, the AFL-CIO, Gun Owners of America, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and others, representing 15 million people, is protesting the move, arguing that it amounts to an unfair "e-mail tax" that would be a burden on non-profits and other groups that can't afford to pay the toll. The fee per message would likely be about one-quarter of a cent, according to Goodmail Systems, the company that offers the certified e-mail service. AOL says the plan will help reduce spam, which has become a universal plague to e-mail inboxes.

Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service, and the Associated Press. E-mail Elinor.
advertisement
Click here!
Recent posts from News Blog
Nvidia puts NForce chipset development on hold
Opera 10 browser is here
Neil Young Archives Blu-ray: Rip off?
Acronis revises survey results about backup habits
Acronis miscalculates data on users' bad backup habits
Flickr co-founder presses beta button
Comcast, Sony open retail store
Cox to try coaxing the Internet into submission
advertisement

A CNET Conversation with Eric Schmidt

CNET's Tom Krazit and Molly Wood sit down with Google CEO Eric Schmidt to discuss the future of Android, the Chrome OS, the problem of real-time search indexing, and more.

Verizon tests sending RIAA copyright notices

The No. 2 phone company, known for its reluctance to intervene in antipiracy cases, strikes an agreement to forward copyright notices on behalf of the music industry.

About News Blog

Recent posts on technology, trends, and more.

Add this feed to your online news reader

advertisement
advertisement

Inside CNET News

Scroll Left Scroll Right