University Business - May 2006 - (Page 78)

Internet of a penny and one cent based on volume in exchange for special handling. Such mail, which would arrive in AOL inboxes as AOL Certified E-mail, would bypass AOL's spam filter; that filter often inadvertently blocks legitimate e-mail. In addi- Postage tion, the preferred mail would also arrive with images and links intact, a promise that AOL cannot make for conventional e-mail. Is Is Here Yahoo is working on a similarly structured plan. The program is totally optional, AOL's Leonsis says. If your company does not want to participate, that's fine. Your mail will still get through if it doesn't violate our normal spam filters. Firestorm Follows Postage Plans Not surprisingly, word of plans for internet postage quickly generated a firestorm of controversy. Some industry insiders balk at the idea of a fee on any kind of e-mail. But others see the move as a definitive way to crush spammers and phishers or criminals who attempt to extract credit card numbers and other data from consum- ers by sending slickly designed e-mails that appear to be from highly respected com- panies. Both scourges of the internet have plagued the medium for years. I've never been a supporter of the internet postage concept, because it's an ar- tificial fee, says Jeanne Jennings, an internet marketing consultant. I think the true solution to spam and phishing lies in technology. Once we are able, without a doubt, to identify the sender of an e-mail, we can trace it back and hold spammers and phishers accountable. Others, like Tracy Mitrano, director of Informational Technology Policy at Cor- nell University, say they are going to take a wait-and-see approach. Specifically, given that Cornell's marketplace orientation is decidedly nonprofit, the university most likely will not opt for the preferred e-mail format for the time being, Mitrano says. Still, Cornell may re-evaluate that stance if paid e-mail becomes commonplace, and if deliverability issues with standard e-mail increase. Under that scenario, Mi- trano adds, it would stand to reason that we would evaluate the technologies and our policies accordingly. A Positive Spin Mike Adams, CEO of Arial Software, makers of e-mail marketing software, isn't willing to wait. Let's face it: The e-mail medium has a reputation problem, he says. Spam has polluted our inboxes and phishing has made us distrustful of even open- ing e-mail from our own banks. The medium of e-mail needs to be rescued, and I have long argued for a solution that would require that some sort of expense be paid by e-mail senders. Other supporters of internet postage agree, adding that the guarantee of assured delivery, and the certification that the e-mail is genuine, easily outweigh any con- cerns over the nominal fee AOL and Yahoo want to charge. Indeed, e-mail will inevitably take on a much greater perceived value, they say, when recipients seeing a certified label are convinced such e-mail is authentic, and they begin, once again, to place more trust in communications sent via the web. Internet postage will also mean that e-mail marketers will not have to spend as much time retooling message designs to ensure their e-mails get through the filters of internet service providers like AOL and Yahoo, supporters say. Indeed, currently, many e-mail marketers must design one e-mail message layout for general delivery, and another just for AOL delivery, since AOL's spam filters often strip out images and links of those design elements that aren't placed just so within an e-mail. Moreover, Adams says, the paid e-mail model would translate into real savings for all companies, who too often find too much of their IT resources ensnarled in anti-spam prevention. Every university, every corporation that accepts e-mail, 78 | May 2006 universitybusiness.com InternetPost.indd 78 4/24/06 12:48:09 PM http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - May 2006

Contents
COLLEGE INDEX
COMPANY INDEX
ADVISORY BOARD
EDITOR'S NOTE
STATS WATCH
SENSE OF PLACE
PEOPLE WATCH
Viewpoint
Human Resources
Marketing
Community Colleges
State of Affairs
2006 Higher Education Consultants Guide
Where's the Beef?
Big Picture AV Planning
Gifts with Strings Attached
Internet Postage Is Here
Enrollment Management Grows Up
Steve Wozniak: Education Technology Champion
Business Technology
WHAT'S NEW
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
DIRECT CONNECT
END NOTE

University Business - May 2006