With so much to do about "stopping spam", we have somehow lost sight of the singular reason we go to such splendid pains to refuse, report and block spam. These very same pains must now be concentrated on keeping email a versatile and usable method of communication between any single entity to another. We can no longer afford to focus our attention entirely on these few bad actors by punishing the harmful behavior of the few. Instead, we must refocus our energies and efforts on rewarding the good behavior of the many.

The issues surrounding the widespread pandemic of spam currently plaguing the entire online community are self-manifesting. Resulting in the creation of the now, numerous, individually run and very much needed block lists. With each list come far to many innocent casualties of this war. With these casualties in mind, has anyone remembered to create the very tool that we need to keep email alive while alleviating this ever-increasing problem? Such as an industry wide list of mail server's IP addresses, that conform to the accepted Industry Standards and Best Practices.

With these issues so exposed, we can deal with the dilemma without losing sight of our end goal. The Online Business Standards for Online Business Conduct and Best Practices for Email Marketing we have outlined will do exactly this. Creating a list based on currently Accepted Industry Standards for Best Practices helps facilitate email as the very tool it was always meant to be, regardless if the email is used for one to one communications or one to many. Only individuals all sides trust can administer these Best Practices and Online Standards.

To accomplish this we will appoint an advisory panel made up of the three primary segments of the industry. Bulk E-Marketers and members of the General Business Community will be appointed three seats each on the board and the Internet Service Provider Industry will be appointed five seats on the board.

The Advisory Board will examine all the issues surrounding spam and make their recommendations. This board will meet via a mailing list and a private board open only to the Board Members and the chief operating officers for The Carrot and The Stick. With this novel approach, we feel we will have the support of all the various segments of the online community. Support from the end users that make up the very base of support for the Online Businesses, the Online Service Providers and the Direct Marketers.

It is up to the Bulk Marketing Community, the General Business Community and the Internet Service Providers to both use the list and to be on the list. In the end, it is our responsibility as community members to make this happen. Only in this way will we put an end to the insidious plague of the unrequited greed of the few, we name spam and spammers.