Monday, October 17, 2005

Internet Stamps as Solution to Spam

ongoing � Internet Stamps: "When you allow people to add content to the Net for free, the economic incentives to fill all the available space with spam are irresistible, and fighting back is difficult, maybe impossible. This works because, while the payoff per unit of spam is low, the cost is zero. Well, we can solve all these problems at once. It wouldn't be free, but it would be cheap and it wouldn't be that hard. It's called 'Internet Stamps'."
This is a very old concept, and I remember it first as an urban myth. Then, if I recall correctly, the U.S. Post Office proposed something similar, maybe in the mid 1990s? It's an excellent idea that years ago faced almost universal opposition. But now even my parents and kids are so familiar with the concept of spam that it just might work.

I'd be willing to pay a small sum to post online. A penny is all that's needed. It would be just enough to take the economic incentive out of spamming and would be a relatively small hassle for individuals. It would be a larger hassle for Internet providers, however, which is probably why we'll never see this.

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