While I agree with your view on letting AOL users make up their own mind, I see no problem with EFF using an open letter to AOL as part of a campaign to educate those users as to the danger they are in. In fact, I encourage it -- better to give them the information so they *can* make up their mind. They certainly wouldn't get the complete picture from AOL itself.
The bonus will be if AOL sees the error in its ways and changes, thus helping them stay in business.
V
· 3 years ago
My understanding is that AOL's tactics won't actually do anything. They are not forcing fees on those who don't pay, they're just slipping the spam filters away from those who do. And if they start blocking, not just moving to junk, but actually deleting legit email, their users will decide for themselves as the mass mailers inform them that they can't send to AOL addresses.
We've already learned that online email is based heavily on competition. Hence why after Gmail's launch MSN and Yahoo gave away larger accounts.
And most, some spammers and phishers will start paying fees to get straight into your inbox. The results won't be pretty: AOL users are generally not the most tech-savvy of people. While it's a good idea for the EFF to say something about this, they should not be pulling serious resources away from the things that matter like DRM and net neutrality.
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The bonus will be if AOL sees the error in its ways and changes, thus helping them stay in business.
We've already learned that online email is based heavily on competition. Hence why after Gmail's launch MSN and Yahoo gave away larger accounts.
And most, some spammers and phishers will start paying fees to get straight into your inbox. The results won't be pretty: AOL users are generally not the most tech-savvy of people. While it's a good idea for the EFF to say something about this, they should not be pulling serious resources away from the things that matter like DRM and net neutrality.