Bulk e-mail fees near as spam filters fail

internet service providers are coming round to the idea
that they may have to start levying "postage" fees on those
who send out huge amounts of commercial e-mail, because anti-spam filters
have
failed to keep down the growth of junk e-mail.

The idea of fee-based e-mail is controversial among internet libertarians
and groups such as the Direct Marketing Association, the politically
powerful lobbying group that comprises 4,700 companies, many of which
use e-mail to advertise to customers.

But advocates of a fee-based system for bulk e-mail believe it would
help distinguish between legitimate e-mail from respectable corporations
and offensive spam from shady operators who presumably could not afford
to send tens of millions of messages a day.

from the Financial Times