An interesting thing happened when AOL ISP customers tried to receive emails containing a link to www.DearAOL.com. That website contains an open letter urging AOL to reconsider its plan to allow bulk email senders to pay to bypass spam filters and guarantee delivery to customers' inboxes. (See "Anticipating Pay-to-Send Email in Your Inbox" )

But in April when AOL customers tried to forward emails containing a link to the website, they got messages telling them their efforts had "failed permanently."

After confirming that emails without the URL made it through without problems, the DearAOL.com Coalition of more than 600 organizations and 300,000 individuals issued a press release entitled "AOL Censors Email Tax Opponents." AOL fixed the problem within 20 minutes, though company officials said repairs of similar problems usually take three to five days.

This incident raises the question of what might happen if an organization with less visibility or media savvy experienced similar treatment. Would that group be brought to see the benefits of paying to send their email? And with state and national telecom legislation poised to give ISPs ever more gatekeeping functions, we may all soon wonder what we're not seeing in our inboxes.