>There are a growing number doing this already. Some don't and charge
>a hefty "cleanup fee" to the luser's credit card (don't know the details
>if anyone's tried to dispute the charge).
Legally I don't know how valid this is. I suspect that it would be
trivial to have this waived as "dispute with merchant." This can
adversely affect the merchant's ability to use transaction clearing
services (it's hard enough to get a merchant account in the first place),
so it's not really a workable solution.
Also, asking for a credit card up front for a "free trial" tends to scare
customers. And, of course, this doesn't cover people who pay by check or
invoice every month.
Sad but true.
>One day it may very well get down to Dan's idea of prepayment for mail.
>I've tried something similar with telemarketers, asking them for a PO
>number prior to listening to their spiel stops them in their tracks!
I'd really like to see a specification for this, something concrete and
reasonably simple to install. I'd also be interested to know if anyone's
thought of setting up email peering points, analogous to the NAPs in
major cities. These peering points could have their own rules, and could
use a new protocol without affecting the Internet as a whole.
shag
