iampowered: Coalition to fight AOL e-mail certification

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A coalition of more than 50 organizations representing more than 15 million members will release an open letter to the AOL today asking it not to implement a planned e-mail certification system.

AOL (with Yahoo! to follow) is working with Goodmail Systems to implement a charge-based system for companies that send business e-mails to AOL e-mail addresses.

The system will charge businesses US$2 or $3 per 1,000 messages to allow marketing e-mails past an improved filtering service.

Only messages from certified sources will include the "digital token" that will ensure proper delivery. The certification system is expected to go into effect in March.

The coalition seeking to stop this system is made up of groups from all backgrounds and political persuasions, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Gun Owners of America, and MoveOn.org.

These organizations are balking at the idea of paying to send e-mails to subscribers, especially since they regularly send as many as 10 million messages out each week; AOL can't ensure that non-certified e-mail will get through the filters, and the coalition is very worried about that.

The group has written an open letter to AOL that will be available online at 1 P.M. EST today at DearAOL.com.