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Stop AOL Email Tax

transmitter | 12.03.2006 08:15 | Indymedia | Technology

In February 2006, AOL announced that it would accept payment for incoming emails. For these certified emails, it would skip its usual anti-spam filters and guarantee delivery for cash.
When Internet Service Providers like AOL demand a cut of "pay-to-send" email, they're raising tollbooths on the open Net, interfering with the passage of data by demanding protection money at the gates of their customers' computers.
Here is the content of a campaign against this move.

from the latest riseup.net newsletter:

==> Stop AOL Email Tax <==

AOL is adopting a system called CertifiedEmail, which is a threat to a
free and open Internet.

The list that you have with Riseup likely has a number of AOL email
addresses subscribed to it. Please consider encouraging your group to
sign-on to this broad coalition that is fighting this. It is clear that
if the AOL email tax is not fought, AOL will make it incredibly
difficult to deliver your list email to your subscribers.

We know that your list is critical for your organizing efforts, but AOL
is trying to reduce the effectiveness of your work by creating a system
where reliable email only is provided to those who can afford to pay for
every email sent. Their system is harmful to free speech, and it is
designed to extort money from senders in exchange for privileged
service. AOL wants us to pay an email tax to get guaranteed delivery,
and if we don't pay, then delivery to AOL addresses will increasingly be
undelivered.

By creating one class of Internet users who pay for guaranteed email
delivery, AOL will leave everyone else (thats us) as a second-class
citizen on the Internet. AOL's email tax creates an unlevel playing
field online and as a result your online organizing will suffer unless
we stop it together. Those who can afford to pay for preferential
service will leave behind those of us who cannot, resulting in
unreliable email delivery.

Please help us save the free and open Internet by growing our coalition.
Please reach out to organizations you are a part of. We can't afford
this, nor can you, please encourage your group to sign-on to this broad
coalition:

 http://www.dearaol.com/joinorg.html

Individuals can sign-on here:

 http://www.dearaol.com

Thanks for your help on this important cause.
P.S. Please be sure to sign!

transmitter

Comments

Display the following 3 comments

  1. Simple Solution — Bob
  2. why use AOL anyway? — bobby
  3. and while you're at it — yet another