April 2006

Nothing Is Ever Really Free—Including the Internet

Why Goodmail's offer to deliver email for a fee is a very good idea

By Celia Canfield

Everywhere I turn recently, I am pulled into a debate that was spawned by the announcement of Goodmail, AOL, and Yahoo that they intend to charge companies about 1/4 cent per email to send messages that will bypass spam filters. As Esther Dyson pointed out in a March 17 New York Times op-ed piece, Goodmail aims to become the FedEx of email.

Proponents of a free Internet forever immediately rallied to the cause to allow email to enjoy franking privileges forever. They argue that the Internet has always been a classless and free environment and that charging for access to personal email boxes is counter to the original intent of the medium. They note that according to AOL, spam complaints are down 75 percent from 2003 levels, and they further suggest that Goodmail's fee will do nothing to reduce the spam that continues to plague email users. Goodmail, they say, will only give wealthy corporations more opportunities to pay for access, leaving non-profits and smaller companies at a disadvantage.

As someone who has been intimately involved with the Web since 1994, I agree with Ms. Dyson that the Internet has actually never really been a free or classless environment. To use the Web, you've always had to have the money to buy a computer or gain access to one. Mostly, one has had to pay for service (as with AOL). And to set up and maintain a commercial website, there have always been costs involved. Even online newspapers are finding that they must charge a subscription fee to continue to pay for the cost of producing all that "free" content. These access charges will only increase in the future because it costs money to create good content.

I am as frustrated as everyone else I talk with about the amount of "entrepreneurial" emails I have to wade through each morning before I can get to the messages I really want and need to see. There is apparently no shortage of gadgets, information, and medicine for every aspect of one's life. I've been saying for some time, that the deluge of spam was going to cause the kind of backlash that we saw in telemarketing in the last decade. I would be the first person to sign up for a "do not call" list equivalent if one were available online. And if Goodmail's efforts make that possible, then many people would welcome the service.

What I don't understand is why people object to paying for email, when we think it is ok to charge for a letter or direct mail piece or a telephone call. Why shouldn't there be a similar charge for sending email? And if the cost of sending that email guarantees safety and to some extent, quality, then it becomes part of the cost of doing business, along with the money you pay for sending faxes, making mobile calls, and having T-1 lines. Access to information in other media has always come at a price. I don't see why the Internet should be any different.

Ms. Dyson argues for market forces to control the pricing and service offerings from the Goodmails of the world. I'm not as much a free market advocate as she is. I do think that, as is the case with postal service, there should be a multitiered system for non-profits to pay less than others. And as with the mobile carriers, maybe there could be a friends and family rate for those to whom you regularly send emails. I do believe in the ingenuity of the market to come up with schemes and programs to compete with each other.

In the meantime, I'm tired of deleting the activities of these work-from-home entrepreneurs each morning before I can begin my day. I sometimes receive 10 duplicate advertisements for a natural supplement to do something for me that is inherently impossible. The Internet has already slipped down the slippery slope. Curbing the intrusion into my life can only benefit those who want to send serious and responsible communication.

Think email should be free? Tell us your opinion and read opposing views on the Tendo Blog.

About the author:

Celia Canfield is the CEO and founding partner of Tendo Communications.