Microsoft ending free email?

[Datana]

As far as I'm aware, the plan isn't to stop ending free services, but to introduce a small charge for every e-mail sent. For most people it will be negligable, but for spammers will be nasty.

Sounds like bullshit.

There's been a lot of urban legends with this premise floating about.

Here is the article in question (free registration required).

[Keevan_Colton]

Actually, Goodmail's system isnt based on charging per email at all...what a load of crock this shit is.

It's based on ISP's and webmail providers, knocking back "unstamped" bulk mail as it comes in. With those that get stamps being regulated and forced to be part of a proper unsubscribe system.

So, it is not charging for emails, its charging for bulk mailing rights.

How it Works

Senders of volume email attach paid stamps to their outgoing messages. These encrypted stamps include verification of the sender's identity and require the sender to honor a "trusted unsubscribe" mechanism enforced by Goodmail Systems. In return, participating ISPs provide safe passage of stamped mail to recipients, thereby eliminating false positives and allowing legitimate mass mailers to interact with consumers in a reliable, trusted manner.

Who Benefits?

Consumers, who are most inconvenienced by spam, will gain the most. Newsletters, order confirmations and opt-in marketing messages will arrive safely in their inboxes, no longer mistaken for spam. When consumers want to "unsubscribe" from a mailing list, they'll know their wish will be acted on quickly and reliably.

ISPs won't have to change their current email systems or anti-spam efforts. They will simply expedite delivery of email that carries a valid Goodmail stamp. ISPs will share in stamp revenue allowing them to improve member services and defray infrastructure costs.

Responsible mass-mailers, who have watched email decline in viability as a marketing and group communications tool, will be able to communicate more effectively and benefit from dramatic increases in delivery rates.

Ultimately, the costly side-effects of spam will be eliminated as stamped mail becomes the norm and filtering systems serve their intended purpose -- to block torrents of unwanted mail from anonymous sources.

[phongn]

Another system that various providers (esp. AOL) are considering is to put some sort of digital signature on the headers that specify what the original mailserver was. Thus, you could easily determine if the headers have been forged (as most spam mail does) and thus drop the mail.

However, to do so is computationally intensive, especially given current e-mail volume. However, as long as the private keys remain secure (and the cipher uncracked) this would provide an excellent method to block the majority of forged-header spam.

[Gandalf]

How long before someone would learn to forge that stamp?

[phongn]

How long before someone would learn to forge that stamp?

If it is a cryptographically signed stamp, a very long time.