Date:         Thu, 2 Mar 2006 19:05:13 +0000
Reply-To:     Robert Rountree <syncro87@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Robert Rountree <syncro87@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      NVC   AOL addresses
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

NVC but I think interesting to some on the list.


AOL and maybe the future of many ISP's

The following was posted on another list that I read:

From the Listserv Listowner's email list archives at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0602&L=lstsrv-l&T=0&P=429

L-Soft has  joined the growing  number of companies that  protest against
AOL's recent announcement  that it will phase out  its Enhanced Whitelist
service in June in favour of Goodmail CertifiedEmail, which carries an as
yet unspecified per-message fee. In a nutshell, companies like L-Soft get on
the AOL whitelist by following good e-mail practices, such as cleaning up
dead addresses, making it easy  for people to leave mailing lists, and of
course not  sending any spam. This  is all going to be  thrown out the
window and replaced with the payment of hard currency to Goodmail. People
who can afford  to pay this fee  will have the privilege  of reaching AOL
subscribers, others  will end up  in junk  folders. Yahoo is  expected to
follow down the same path.

I have nothing  against certification as an additional tool  in the fight
against spam. Knowing that message such and such genuinely comes from its
purported sender  can help improve  the accuracy  of your spam  filter. I
also understand that  certification costs money, unless  sponsored by the
government or by volunteers donating their time to the cause. But I think
per-message  certification  fees make  as  much  sense as  per-click SSL
certificate fees.  I also find that  the "rumoured" rates that  have been
mentioned in  some of the  press articles  are totally out  of proportion
with the service being provided. The  fee is several times what providers
currently charge  for the service  of hosting the mailing  list, removing
dead addresses, making backups, etc.  As an illustration, a typical hobby
list would cost  on the order of  $500-1000 a year. An  active list could
cost $10k  or more  a year. This  may not be  much for  the advertisement
manager of a large company, not  when compared to print adverts, but what
about the rest  of us? I know L-Soft hosting  customers cannot afford the
price increase that would be necessary  to cover an identification fee of
five figures PER DAY.

And for many of us, this identification  fee is not even an option. To be
eligible for Goodmail accreditation, you must "have business headquarters
located in the United States or  Canada." Foreigners need not bother. You
must also "have at least a 6 month mailing history from [the] IP" address
from which you are sending your  newsletter. This of course makes it very
difficult to switch  ISPs if you are  not satisfied with the  one you are
using. A new ISP means a new  IP address, and Goodmail will then shut you
down for "at least 6 months." A nice 'protection' plan for the ISP, but a
disaster for customers.

Anyway, here is a link to our  full press release, which has been sent to
major  publications today.  And  I  want to  salute  the  courage of the
executives at hosting-only  companies that have spoken  up and protested,
knowing full  well that  they would  go out  of business  in a  matter of
months were  their access  to AOL and  Yahoo mailboxes to  be cut  off in
retaliation. In  the post-Enron  era, this kind  of corporate  courage is
very rare  indeed. I stand  on much firmer ground,  as hosting is  only a
side activity  at L-Soft,  but I  can still imagine  what must  have gone
through their mind before they hit the send button.

http://www.lsoft.com/news/aol-goodmail.asp