OpenEuphoria

[OT] ISPs are evil

• Posted by Greg Haberek <ghaberek at wowway.com> Aug 01, 2004
• 488 views

For about a week now, I haven't been receiving posts via e-mail,
as I have been for the past several years. When I attempted to
post to Topica via e-mail, I got a reply saying my account had
been disabled due to bounced message. I e-mailed Rob and he confirmed
my dilema. He said he wouldn't be suprised if my account was
quickly re-disabled after he fixed it.

After poking around the website for Wide Open West (my cable
and high-speed internet provider) I discovered their new 'feature'
called SpamManager.

<snip>
SpamManager for all WOW! Internet accounts - Effective July 21, 2004
  - Available to all WOW! Internet customers free of charge as part of 
WOW! Internet service.
  - Blocks and removes all e-mail with known viruses from server - 
these e-mails will never run the risk of being opened accidentally .
  - A message center is created for users, this message center holds 
all e-mail blocked as questionable spam - users can log into their 
message center from the WOW! portal page to deliver blocked e-mail to 
their in box or delete the blocked e-mail.
  - All blocked spam e-mail for sub accounts will be found in the 
primary account's message center.
  - Customers that want a higher level of spam filter can subscribe to 
SpamManager Plus for $0.99/month (and then link them to the ordering area)
</snip>

And this is now in my 'Account Setup' page:

<snip>
SpamManager Plus - Manage Your Junk Email
   For only $.99 a month you can manage your own Junk e-mail settings 
and minimize the amount of spam you receive. You can even set up 
approved and blocked sender lists to ensure all of your e-mail is from 
the sources you trust.

   Also by subscribing to SpamManager Plus, each of your WOW! Email 
accounts will receive a Spam Message Center so you can create unique 
settings and lists for each member of your family.
   [Order Now]
</snip>

So I ask you, is this or is this not evil big-business marketing?
They've created a 'feature' I don't want. And the only way to remove
this 'feature' is to upgrade and pay for it? To me, SpamManagers are
an answer to a question that nobody asked (at least not me).

I guess I'll be posting from the web from now on.

~Greg
www.finalphasesoftware.com