Goodmail Merry Goes Round and Round and Round

03:30 PM May 24, 2006

With much anticipation I logged onto the N-TEN webinar "Is Paying for Email Delivery Inevitable?" Since I missed the battle royale version of this discussion in Seattle I was sure not to miss the web based replay. The web makes everything better. My favorite part of the webinar is the first 10 minutes - the 10 minutes of disembodied voices asking if they can see the chat and the cacophony of engaging mute.

After the 10 minutes of our technological superiority over the apes the games began. The first speaker, incorrectly introduced as the CTO of the largest sender of non-profit email, was actually the CTO of a competitor. We keep the real CTO of the largest sender of non-profit email chained away in a closet. Really. So CTO the lesser warned of armageddon and Goodmail was the savior. OK, next please. Next up was Richard from Goodmail. Turns out Richard and I have something in common: he worked on E-World (Apple's version of AOL circa 1995) and I have an E-World t-shirt.

Richard, clearly a very bright man, laid out the case for Goodmail. Everything sounded hunky dory - then I had a moment of clarity and typed my question to the N-TEN moderators.

"People, especially, non-profits send email because of the minimal cost. Adding any cost to this, even a nominal fee, will reduce its usage by those that are unable to pay. Is this widening of the digital divide a good thing?"

One moderator got back to me and said not to worry as Danny from EFF would address this. Odd, I thought. I hadn't asked Danny anything. Instead I sent my questions while Richard spoke. Thinking the moderator confused, I sent in my next question.

"If one of the reasons for Goodmail is to generate trust with the consumer, won't not having this certified goodness affect the trust of my brand? What if I already have a well established and trusted brand - without the blue ribbon of approval aren't I effectively destroying my brand?"

The moderator again, reassured me and told me that Danny would also address this. This Danny guy is swell. I want a Danny. Sorry, you'll have to address your questions for me to Danny. Undeterred by the guard at the gate, I typed my next, conspiracy-laced question.

"How long before the fee to send email is trickled on the average consumer? After all Bill Gates has publicly stated that people - you and me - should pay to send email."

The CO for a third time, told me to take my meds and that my celly Danny, oh Danny boy, would answer all of my questions. How I longed for Danny. Until I heard what he had to say. And, well he was exciting as fluoride treatment. I sat there, mouth agape and his words were like a mixture of Styrofoam and cold goo. Something about how Goodmail is a solution to a real problem but Danny has concerns that it might stifle innovation in the spam blocking software industry. Well, he's got my vote. Heck he can have two.

Richard, if you're out there, can you sign my t-shirt and answer the above questions? Also, can you answer this one:

How will a fee help the dreaded spam and phishing problem? I get numerous pieces of junk and phishing mail a week. Heck, I've been getting them before I had e-mail. From letters telling me to act now or I'll miss out on reduced car insurance rates to my credit card company trying to con me into depositing checks that are already filled out and addressed to me - Deposit it today pay for the rest of your life! The people behind this junk have been paying to harass me for years. Wouldn't they look forward to the opportunity to pay to make sure that I see their email?

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