Early this year America Online (AOL) and Yahoo! announced plans for pay-to-send systems whereby large email senders can pay for priority delivery service of their bulk emails to AOL and Yahoo! customers. Paid-for emails would be certified through the Goodmail CertifiedEmail program and would then bypass AOL and Yahoo! spam filters and other screening mechanisms. AOL and Yahoo! offer this service as a way to guard against email spam, fraud, and "phishing," a scam in which emails made to appear to be from legitimate institutions solicit the receivers to divulge credit card or other account numbers in order to use those numbers illegitimately.

Under the pay-to-send program, screened emails would get preferential delivery service. This puts "free" email receipt at risk of slower delivery or nondelivery, critics of the system charge. MoveOn.org, an internet-based lobbying group opposed to the plan, argues that if email providers have a choice between spending money to keep spam filters up-to-date or making money by encouraging more senders to pay to send, their choice will be to neglect free services in order to boost their profits.  

Electronic Frontier Foundation, whose tagline is "Defending Freedom in the Digital World," argues that pay-to-send will actually increase spam and won't, in fact, address email fraud. EFF makes the point that phishers are good at counterfeiting realistic-looking emails, so what's to stop them from counterfeiting certification symbols?

Goodmail's website promises that CertifiedEmail messages will be delivered only from senders that have obtained prior permission from recipients, but didn't respond to a request to explain how they verify permission by press time. Goodmail suggests that their certification system be used in conjunction with an authentication system such as Yahoo!?s DomainKeys or Microsoft?s Sender ID.

The screening company has a special, no-cost offer in effect for nonprofits through the end of the year. Consumer groups opposed to the system argue that the risk remains that account holders may not receive timely emails for a range of services they want to access through email including low-fare notices from airlines, electronic order confirmations, and alerts from advocacy groups.

Goodmail points out that the United States Postal Service has different price tiers for guaranteed delivery and faster service; the question is whether AOL and Yahoo! customers want to open their email boxes to the highest bidder.