Bill Gates proposes an end to free email If the U.S. Postal Service delivered mail for free, our mailboxes would surely runneth over with more credit-card offers, sweepstakes entries, and supermarket fliers. That's why we get so much junk e-mail: It's essentially free to send. So Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates, among others, is now suggesting that we start buying "stamps" for e-mail.
posted by wsg
on Mar 5, 2004 -
46 comments
Perhaps you've seen the new MSN commercials that use M$'s "spam-blocking" technology to support their ISP service. Maybe you've read fluff pieces like
these, where AOL and Microsoft execs are allowed to wax poetic about their deep anti-spam convictions:
"'I get spam too, and I am as fed up with it as all of our members are,' AOL chief executive Jonathan F. Miller said yesterday."
"'To help keep intruders at bay,' Microsoft said, "we must all do our part.'"
So what's
this all about?
"'AOL and Microsoft argue there is a place for legitimate unsolicited e-mail in the marketplace,' said Marc Berejka, Microsoft's senior director of public policy."
posted by Pinwheel
on May 9, 2003 -
19 comments
While MS-bashing is often too easy, this statement about
recent security holes seemed especially astounding: "Outlook Express ships with every Windows system, or rather as part of IE, so it's on every system. But unless it is configured to receive mail, you are not at risk," said Scott Culp, manager for Microsoft security response. Interesting.
Unless it is configured to receive mail, like, you know, an email program.
posted by judith
on Oct 11, 2002 -
30 comments
MSN blocks its subscribers from sending mail with non-Outlook mail clients, as of last week. Like AOL, MSN hasn't allowed its subscribers to check their MSN mail with non-MS mail clients
since the beginning. Last April, they
banned access to non-MSN SMTP servers (
to block spam relaying), but you could still send mail to other ISPs through MSN's SMTP server using your mail client of choice with a
simple fix. Now, you can only do so if you switch to Outlook or Outlook Express (quietly announced
on their site and via
e-mail). All others (
Eudora,
Pegasus,
Agent,
Yahoo Mail,
Netscape Messenger) are left cold.
(more inside...)
posted by waxpancake
on Jul 31, 2001 -
30 comments
Do you use Hotmail for email? If so, it looks like
Microsoft owns all your messages and can reprint or repurpose them however they like. I'd assume
the ToS could be extended to cover any content on a passport-using website as well. Scary stuff, considering all the Hailstorm services on the way...
posted by mathowie
on Apr 3, 2001 -
12 comments
