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Looking For Mr. Goodmail Part 2
John Stith
Staff Writer
2006-03-01
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
America Online claims they want to protect their customers from spam and other nasty things coming through the email. Everyone knows spam is a problem for sure. AOL's done a decent job of it so far. The problem is, now they're going to start charging emailers for the "privilege" of sending safe, secure emails to users who want it. But who's really going to benefit?
No one questions the need for more secure emailing. Spam is rampant, people get shucked of millions through various spam scams, and viruses and Trojans end up all over the place. AOL should be commended for wanting to improve the state of email in the world today. They have millions of subscribers. They should.
With the system AOL has in place, it costs emailers, particularly large-scale emailers nothing. They have a tiered system in place and while the Whitelist does require some type of authentication certified by AOL, the AOL side was still free. Companies could pay for the authentication and things could go through unhindered. With the new AOL/Goodmail system, that won't be the case. Now, emailers will pay AOL directly for the "privilege" of being guaranteed a straight path and being clean of spam and other flaws. Otherwise, AOL reserves the right to make changes to the email to protect their customers. From a security side of things, this sounds responsible doesn't it? Maybe not.
The cynical side makes one think simply that AOL is out to make a buck and it has nothing to do with protecting their customers. Suppose you're a business with an email newsletter going out once a week to say 100,000 people. Even at one penny per email, that's an extra $1000 a week, even though you've already paid authentications costs. So, 1 newsletter a week, that comes to an extra $52,000 a year. Now… let's change the direction here.
What happens when you're an advocacy group? Some people may say what you offer is spam but many people, hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, sign up for your newsletters and mass mailings. So say you've got one million going out. At one cent per email, you're up to $100,000 per week or $5.2 million a year. What if you're a group like the Democratic National Committee, who's got millions of subscribers? The Humane Society of America probably has a few subscribers as well. Then there's AFL-CIO and lots of other unions. It blurs the lines a bit more. Many non-profits could well be affected by this new measure.
The problem really comes down to "a failure to communicate." When AOL follows through with this plan, it will cause many organizations to fail to communicate, quite simply. Security is absolutely important. Protection from cybercrime should be front and center. But the other side of the security argument is always balance. Where does the need for better security cross the line and intervene with people's ability to conduct their day-to-day lives, conduct business and even exercise their rights to be politically and socially active.
Assuming AOL stays the course, and they've said they will, many of the organizations will be left without alternatives. A boycott may be called. If it is, but it won't be just a political motivation, it'll be financial as well. A lot of groups and companies, even those that don't fall into the spam categories, will be taxed out of business. Then the email does no one any good.
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About the Author:
John is a staff writer for SecurityProNews covering cyber security.
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