Groups Unite To Fight Bulk E-Mail Fee

A variety of interest groups have joined forces to fight a proposed bulk e-mailing fee they claim strikes at the heart of online communication -- a level playing field for rich and poor. America Online plans to introduce a service that would charge businesses and other bulk e-mailers a fee to route their e-mail directly to a user's mailbox without first passing through junk mail filters. Another major provider, Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo Inc., in the coming months will test an optional certified e-mail program based on "transactional" messages only, such as bank statements and purchase receipts, Yahoo spokeswoman Karen Mahon said. "Yahoo is not planning to require payments for businesses or organizations to send e-mail to Yahoo users," she said. "Companies can continue to send e-mail to Yahoo e-mail users at no cost in exactly the same way they always have."

Source - CNN