Originally published February 26 2006
Goodmail Systems co-founder shares views on certified email
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Richard Gingras feels it's appropriate to pay for privileges that the user couldn't get otherwise, like assured delivery. Some say the certified email gives preferential treatment and amounts to extortion.
The service gives preferential treatment to companies that pay a fraction of a cent per e-mail to ensure that their messages bypass spam filters and get through to the intended recipients.
The business model not only challenges the notion of free flow of information upon which e-mail has thrived for more than a decade, but is prompting criticism from advertisers and antispam groups who say it amounts to extortion and poses a threat to legitimate e-mail messages from senders who don't agree to pay, without really decreasing spam.
Goodmail Systems' co-founder and Chief Executive Richard Gingras talked with CNET News.com about how the service works and why he believes it will improve the e-mail experience for consumers and advertisers.
Gingras: What we do is related to efforts to really begin to restore trust and reliability to e-mail.
Nearly 30 percent of U.S. e-mail users have said that they won't open a message from any financial institution because they're concerned about its authenticity.
So what we set out to do with certified e-mail was create a new class of e-mail where we could provide the consumer with the comfort that the messages they were expecting to receive from commercial sources were indeed authentic and were messages that you could comfortably interact with.
The second important characteristic is the dramatic loss in delivery reliability.
Gingras: First of all, it's very important that (e-mail) is only available to highly qualified senders who have a pristine record of sending behavior.
First, we comprehensively accredit the sending entity.
Third, they can only use certified e-mail for permission-based messages to existing customers.
Since we maintain reputation profiles on the senders, we can use that to verify that their assertions about permissions are actually true.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml