At a time of intense debate about the prospect of a two-tier internet, America Online and Yahoo say they intend to introduce a system that would guarantee speedier delivery to companies that pay between 0.25 and one US cent (0.15p to 0.5p) for each message. The internet service providers would still accept email from senders who do not pay for preferential treatment, but the paid messages would bypass spam filters and other barriers which strip off pictures and other images to land more quickly in in-boxes.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this sounds like they are planning a service where the big spam companies pay money so that their spam emails do not get filtered any more. Just what the customer has always wanted...

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Internet giants announce plans to charge for speedier emails