Yahoo looks to penny per e-mail to stop spam

Pro

Yahoo researchers are looking to charity to cut down on spam. Currently in private beta, Yahoo’s CentMail sells 500 e-mail stamps for five dollars.

Each time you send an e-mail, you use a penny stamp code, which lets the system know it’s legitimate, as no spammer could afford to stamp each and every of the million and millions of e-mails they send.

Previous systems have tried similar ideas, but CentMail is different as the cash goes to charity. “We think this is a more socially efficient approach to reducing spam,” Yahoo researcher Sharad Goel told the New Scientist.

Spam currently makes up as much as 90% of all e-mail sent, making it an expensive and time consuming issue.

Read More: security