Ill begin with apologies if this sounds too dumb a question but;

What is the problem with keeping their whitelists and offering the option of
a Goodmail alternative for potential marketers with budgets (read sensitive
spammers)!?   The goodmail package can provide additional advanced reciepts
etc and even a nice little logo to verify that they are 'safe'... ?
 


> -----Original Message-----
> From: LISTSERV site administrators' forum 
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Eric Thomas
> Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 3:31 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: AOL-Goodmail deal: Good Mail or "Goodfellas"?
> 
> An update on the AOL pay-per-message issue. I have given a 
> round of press interviews today and it looks like there is 
> going to be a lot of coverage today and tomorrow. AOL have 
> backed off on their plans to phase out the
> (free) whitelist by June 30, but it seems clear that their 
> long-term direction remains pay-per-message. I was surprised, 
> to say the least, to read the following in a recent article, 
> in which I was quoted about the monopoly situation that AOL's 
> decision would create:
> 
> > [Eric Thomas] said the main problem is that AOL is only using one 
> > technology supplier for its new certification plan, leaving 
> Goodmail 
> > in a position to become a monopoly.
> >
> > "Once the system is in place, nothing would prevent Goodmail from 
> > raising prices to increase profits," Thomas said. "Higher 
> > certification prices would lead to lower e-mail volumes and reduced 
> > operational costs for AOL, so they would be unlikely to 
> complain about any such increases."
> >
> > AOL's [spokesman] Graham said this was a hang-up Thomas and L-Soft 
> > would have to deal with.
> 
> Well, I am not ashamed of having a "hang-up" about monopolies.
> 
> At this point, I have very little faith left in AOL's 
> long-term plans for the existing whitelist. There has been a 
> downpour of bad press, they have adjusted their position to 
> control the damage, but industry concerns about the 
> single-sourced nature of the certification are seen as a 
> hang-up that we all need to get over. The long-term plan is 
> still to make us pay ridiculously high fees for the privilege 
> of not having our mail tossed in junk folders where 
> subscribers will not see it.
> 
> I think we need to react by creating an open standard for 
> e-mail certification, something that could be implemented 
> rapidly and that could support the creation of low-cost or 
> even free (community-run) certification services. And the 
> good news is that this can be done through a very simple 
> extension of DomainKeys. Just picture the DomainKeys we have 
> today, but with the public key stored at the certification 
> company, rather than at the sending company. Same checksum 
> algorithms, same overall structure with a few minor changes, 
> and you get all the benefits of DomainKeys plus all the 
> benefits of certification and reputation checking. That open 
> platform would allow anyone to offer the service at any 
> price, and it would work with any up to date mail software. 
> Goodmail could continue to use its proprietary platform, 
> although I suspect that it wouldn't have the same market 
> penetration as the open design, but that is the drawback of 
> proprietary designs. Nobody would be locked out, and 
> everybody would win (except of course the monopolists).
> 
>   Eric
>