Certified e-mail
Encyclopedia
Certified email is an email
whitelisting technique by which an internet service provider
allows someone to bypass spam filters when sending email
messages to its subscribers, in return for paying a fee to the certifying service. A sender can then be sure that his messages have reached their recipients without being blocked, or having links or images stripped out of them, by spam filters. The purpose of certified email is to allow companies to reliably reach their customers by email, while giving recipients certainty that a certified message is legitimate and is not a forged phishing
attempt.
Certified email is also used to describe email
whose sending is certified by a neutral third-party, analogous to certified mail
.
and Yahoo announced plans to implement it. AOL has stated that mail from senders who have prepaid 1/4 cent per message will be delivered directly to users' mailboxes without being subject to spam filters. AOL has announced that it will pay the fee for non-profits. The messages will be clearly identified to the user as having come from a trusted source. These senders must pass a system of accreditation with Goodmail, and their messages must only be sent to people who have a pre-existing business relationship with the sender. If a sender sends a message to a user who has not previously agreed to receive it, AOL may entirely block the sender.
AOL asserts that free email on AOL's service will continue to work as it always has, and a user will continue to receive all messages from a sender whom he has whitelisted. AOL subscribers will not be charged for sending or receiving email, and senders who do not prepay AOL will have their messages subject to the same spam filters as before.
MoveOn
organized a protest of AOL's use of certified email. It characterizes the program as an "email tax", and claims that AOL is giving spammers a direct route into users' mailboxes, while attempting to move more people to paid email by causing a larger amount of legitimate unpaid email to be rejected by the spam filters.
CertifiedEmail has been adopted by seven of the top 10 ISPs in the USA: AOL, AT&T, Comcast
, Cox, Road Runner, Verizon, and Yahoo.
According to Comcast, Goodmail has ceased operations and as of February 4, 2011 Comcast will no longer use the service.
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
whitelisting technique by which an internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
allows someone to bypass spam filters when sending email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
messages to its subscribers, in return for paying a fee to the certifying service. A sender can then be sure that his messages have reached their recipients without being blocked, or having links or images stripped out of them, by spam filters. The purpose of certified email is to allow companies to reliably reach their customers by email, while giving recipients certainty that a certified message is legitimate and is not a forged phishing
Phishing
Phishing is a way of attempting to acquire information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Communications purporting to be from popular social web sites, auction sites, online payment processors or IT...
attempt.
Certified email is also used to describe email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
whose sending is certified by a neutral third-party, analogous to certified mail
Certified Mail
Certified Mail is a type of Special Service mail offered by the United States Postal Service and other postal services that allows the sender proof of mailing, as well as proof of delivery. Certified Mail also provides the sender with a copy of the recipient's signature, which is obtained at the...
.
Certified email
One of the most well-publicized and controversial certified email services at present is CertifiedEmail by Goodmail Systems, which has made headlines since February 2006 when AOLAOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
and Yahoo announced plans to implement it. AOL has stated that mail from senders who have prepaid 1/4 cent per message will be delivered directly to users' mailboxes without being subject to spam filters. AOL has announced that it will pay the fee for non-profits. The messages will be clearly identified to the user as having come from a trusted source. These senders must pass a system of accreditation with Goodmail, and their messages must only be sent to people who have a pre-existing business relationship with the sender. If a sender sends a message to a user who has not previously agreed to receive it, AOL may entirely block the sender.
AOL asserts that free email on AOL's service will continue to work as it always has, and a user will continue to receive all messages from a sender whom he has whitelisted. AOL subscribers will not be charged for sending or receiving email, and senders who do not prepay AOL will have their messages subject to the same spam filters as before.
MoveOn
MoveOn
MoveOn is an American non-profit, progressive or liberal public policy advocacy group and political action committee, which has raised millions of dollars for candidates it identifies as "moderates" or "progressives" in the United States. It was formed in 1998 in response to the impeachment of...
organized a protest of AOL's use of certified email. It characterizes the program as an "email tax", and claims that AOL is giving spammers a direct route into users' mailboxes, while attempting to move more people to paid email by causing a larger amount of legitimate unpaid email to be rejected by the spam filters.
CertifiedEmail has been adopted by seven of the top 10 ISPs in the USA: AOL, AT&T, Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
, Cox, Road Runner, Verizon, and Yahoo.
According to Comcast, Goodmail has ceased operations and as of February 4, 2011 Comcast will no longer use the service.
See also
- certified mailCertified MailCertified Mail is a type of Special Service mail offered by the United States Postal Service and other postal services that allows the sender proof of mailing, as well as proof of delivery. Certified Mail also provides the sender with a copy of the recipient's signature, which is obtained at the...
- email authentication
- Whitelist
- Secure messagingSecure messagingSecure messaging is a server based approach to protect sensitive data when sent beyond the corporate borders and provides compliance with industry regulations such as HIPAA, GLBA and SOX...
External links
- CertifiedMail.com site
- DataMotion site
- HaveProof site
- KobeMail site
- ReturnPath site
- REWpost site
- RPost site
- PrivaSphere site