In my last posting, I said we should spell out what does
work.  Here is a model of what is possible and what has worked
for years.

        UNIX users who are blind have a Ton of options when it
comes to email.  There are two main tasks involved in the
processes used in electronic mail.  One is the MTA or Mail
Transport Agent. This is usually not something the end user
directly deals with.  It makes sure that incoming and outgoing
mail messages go where they are supposed to go.  The other half
of the task is called the UA or User Agent and is the part you
see when sending or receiving mail.

        There are several user agents such as Pine, nmh or mh,
mail and msg to name a few.

        These programs work in a text environment and display
messages written in ASCII text and some can be made to call lynx
to properly display messages that are in ASCII, but also
formatted in html.

        My point is that the nuts and bolts of sending and
receiving email messages are not owned by anybody and one at
least receives the message.  Whether or not it is readable is a
separate issue.

        The nearest thing I can compare it to is the deliberate
incompatibility built in to the instant messaging systems of
Microsoft's and others software.  If you need to talk to a friend
who is, so to speak, on the other side, you better pick up the
phone, send email or get on your skate board and go see him or
her because you are otherwise up the creek.

        Private industry should be building engines to fit the
standards rather than building what amounts to prankware to break
everything else.

        Someone once asked Lucky Luciano for advice in life and
he reportedly said, "Son, remember that an honest Dollar is a
thousand times easier to make than a dishonest one."

        A lot of what is happening right now is plain unnecessary
and this sort of thing is what truly breaks access.

Martin McCormick WB5AGZ  Stillwater, OK
OSU Center for Computing and Information Services Network Operations Group