[Asrg] Email Postage (was Re: FeedBack loops)

[mathew]

On Nov 13, 2008, at 16:30, Franck Martin wrote:
> I have to stop you here. This is a real bad idea
>
> The Internet is not the telephone or postal system. Telcos loved  
> this pricing model, but time have changed, get over it ;)

Who said anything about telcos?

The "you can use as much as you like for free" model has been tried  
many times. The "recipient pays the costs, sending is free" model has  
been tried too. They've failed every time. Can you think of a single  
counterexample? If not, why do you think e-mail should magically be  
exempt from the normal observed laws of economics?

There's a reason why the postal service stopped charging the recipient  
the entire cost of mail service. There's a reason why we don't all  
have toll-free phone numbers. There's a reason why the Cambridge  
"green bike" scheme failed, why we have environmental pollution  
controls, why we have legally decided "water rights", and why there  
are controls on fishing. It doesn't matter that fish are nothing like  
postage stamps; the fundamental problem is the same.


mathew
[ http://meta.ath0.com/2006/01/22/spam1/ if you want a more detailed  
argument ]