When e-mail first became popular in the 1990s, it was viewed as 
nothing short of wonderful. There was no need to go to the post 
office, no need to purchase paper or stamps, and no waiting days 
for a reply.   People could easily and quickly send written 
messages to anyone else with an e-mail address.  Life was good.

Then, abuses by commercial entities began to creep in and ruin 
the fun. These spoilers were playing the numbers, and sending 
out to millions of addresses that had been bought, stolen, or 
otherwise obtained.  They knew that if only an extremely small 
percentage of those receiving their spam advertisements were to 
respond, this would generate enough money to make the exercise 
worthwhile.  So communication was changed to reflect this abuse.

No longer was e-mail freely sent between writers.  Now there 
were filters for e-mail accounts.  Internet Service Providers 
(ISPs) were also on the lookout for spammers using their 
services.  Something as simple as sending out a newsletter 
could prove tricky.   If the ISP thought someone was engaging 
in spamming, or had received complaints about unwanted emails 
from recipients, the ISP could move quickly to shut the 
newsletter, and sender, down.  An easy way to avoid these 
issues is by using a service such as the phantom writers 
(http://thephantomwriters.com), which distributes to thousands 
of sources, and leaves the writer free to create.

Safety has become a watchword for e-mail.  Before opening any 
message, it's important to recognize who the sender is.  Going 
beyond the enormous clutter caused by spam, computer viruses 
abound, and many people are quite rightly hesitant to open any 
sort of attachment.  

Some web based e-mail accounts are not as good as others.  Many 
have size limits, forcing one to either pay up for more space 
or open additional accounts.  Some are difficult to access, 
even when the correct password is used.  With some of the 
filters used, one never knows how much mail that is actually 
wanted isn’t getting through the electronic walls.

Perhaps a better option is to use a password protected, secure 
web site where only those you invite have access -- for the 
times when you care about receiving communication.  In this 
way, messages can be sent directly, safely, and virus free, 
to the intended reader.   Keep the e-mail account for “junk” 
correspondence. 

Rosalyn Bronstein, a consultant serving corporate clients, saw 
first hand the need for safe and secure communication channels 
for her clients.  http://www.ntouch4.com  was created as a 
closed environment to provide a safe and secure way for people 
to exchange text and pictures without having to rely on email.