This is the tragedy of the commons all over again. "Free goods" carry problems. The solution is to charge a nominal fee for email, say 2 cents each. The question is how the internet could implement that.≪ WHY do people do this? I cannot believe anyone is making money from it.≫ Mass mailings (snail mail) are counted in pro-mill. That is, one answer per 1,000 mailings is considered profitable for both client and mass-mailer. Mass emailing is so cheap that one answer per 100,000 is profitable. The more, the merrier.Harry Binswanger hb@xxxxxxxx