Posted November 24, 2019
![avatar](http://images.gog.com/49a6dca56c974f870f544ec04ded133f39b1e20ef314499dfe21e91abda65914_avm.jpg)
There was a huge outcry: "Bill Gates wants to restrict the freedom of the internet! He wants to squeeze even more money out of us! Outrage!" ... even though he didn't suggest that Microsoft would be getting those 0.1 cents per mail. But it was seen as an attack on the internet and was booed down.
Luckily, the old trick in which you could telnet into the server got eventually sealed up, but even today, few think about security. Even mass-sending emails without using the Bcc field is a "crime" in my eyes.
But yes, Bill Gates with this proposal (unlike his other ideas) was sound. We do pay electricity and regular mail so why not for emails also? Everyone maintaining an SMTP server should be allowed to charge for the use of sending email. Then comes the question - should I still pay for SMTP use in another company, when I already are paying for my internet through my ISP...? Unlike many other security measurements I'd say this one is one of the better and fair solution.
Anyone needing to have to send to a whole list must equally pay for it, be it 5 a day or 500 a day (up to a limit). Newsletters also are a nuisance. When spam mails can count for up to 70% or more of the net total traffic on the internet today we could have avoided much of this if we implemented this in the early days.
On the other side of the coin - this would severely hurt 2FA that GOG and others uses... perhaps certain dispensation can be made in these cases?
EDIT: :)
Post edited November 24, 2019 by sanscript