Already, though, people I know are suddenly not receiving their emails ... from friends, from email lists to which they've subscribed.... Is this supposed to be a benefit?

I can say that I am not inclined to ever pay AOL or Yahoo or anyone else a toll so I can send one of their subscribers a message. We'll find other ways to communicate.

But some people will pay for that access: spammers. Why? Because they send messages as part of their business plan. It's all about money, and all AOL and Yahoo have done is increase their cost of doing business. Meanwhile, real messages get blocked, held up, lost.

I guess "a better internet" is one where AOL charges for what most everyone else does for free.