Two ideas. The first, from Esther Dyson, is that perhaps a tiny micro-payment should be attached to emails (paid for by the sender). This would get rid of spam but might also reduce the amount of unnecessary cc’ing that goes on.
Second idea, from Jaron Lanier, is that you should pay to search. What effect would this have I wonder? Oh, one other thought (can’t remember who from) is whether or not the idea of ‘free’ is concentrating wealth in the hands of a few individuals and organisations.
I completely agree with you. I did a presentation last year on predicting (perhaps the wrong word) that we will start using micropayments for individual web pages, including searches. This money will be split amongst the content provider and ISP.
Back in 2004 I outlined a plan that would add a micropayment for charity stamp in Outlook. Something like 0.7¢ – not required, but a way to brand your email / image as socially conscious and/or connected to a particular cause, and of course, a way for charities to make money from small transactions.