"The problem is that most people don't know about it and assume Email offers
some form of
guarantee of delivery. In it's current form, it does not."
Interesting notion - snail mail offers the same lack of guarantee. When I
check my physical mailbox, I employ my own form of SPAM filtering - my eyes
- to determine which items I'll open versus which I think are "junk." That
junk might be from a non-profit in which I have little interest, various
financial institutions, other commercial ventures, etc. The sender will
never know if I've read their message.
Sounds a lot like junk email, doesn't it?
I guess the difference may lie in who's doing the filtering. With this
Hotmail account, for instance, I can decide to receive mail only from
addresses I deem "safe" and have the rest deleted OR I can have messages
from unknown addresses sent into my Junk Mail folder for my review OR I can
simply accept everything into my Inbox. I can also report suspicious
addresses to MSN and they'll block future messages for me. The question is,
are there messages which MSN is withholding that I might want to see?
And, furthermore, should I care? Unlike other aspects of the Internet,
there is considerable competition for email services, whether I want it for
free (Hotmail, GMail), to pay for it (AOL or other ISPs) or to rely on my
employer. In short, if I want to get at a message and a message wants to
get to me, we'll find someplace to meet.
An even better question is whether or not a sender has an unabridged right
to access my mailbox, be it real or virtual. My going in position is that
they don't.
I'm not sure that any of this has anything to do with net neutrality rules,
however, since none of the companies I've mentioned here own networks
(except for some ISPs, but I don't have to use them for email). I had
started writing another entry on that, but I haven't had an opportunity to
finish my thoughts. Stay tuned, I suppose.
Cheers,
Charlie
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
----Original Message Follows----
From: "Don Cameron" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: The Digital Divide Network discussion
group<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "'The Digital Divide Network discussion
group'"<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: RE: [DDN] Net Neutrality and AOL ...It Begins
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2006 05:49:01 +1000
Norbert writes:
> Can anyone suggest a good quotable reference for the fact that
> this kind of thing is common practice?
Norbert unfortunately information in this area isn't so easily forthcoming
because of security and proprietary concerns - Organisations that filter
email content tend not to advertise the fact - you need to conduct research
to get to the facts of the matter.
A good place to start is to peruse the discussions held on Email filtering
software support forums (SurfControl, Clearswift, SpamAssassin, Policy
Patrol etc. etc.). These forums are populated by administrators of large
Email networks working under organisational policies rarely publicised, yet
made visible through the types of support requested and statistics raised.
Alternatively you could simply ask most large-network administrators. Email
Content Control is a standard in today's world of Email exploits and Spam,
and I doubt there would be many who have not deployed such a system.
One of the most common requests received by today's corporate IT Help Desks
is that of a request to "stop this junk from getting to my inbox" (the junk
in question could be Spam, activism, requests for a donation, anything at
all the recipient does not wish to receive). Mail administrators compile
enormous local "black-lists" that work in tandem with the worlds IP/RBLS and
URL/RBLS to block an unimaginable amount of email traffic. The problem is
that most people don't know about it and assume Email offers some form of
guarantee of delivery. In it's current form, it does not.
Don
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