AOL, Yahoo wide open to bulk e-mail, for a fee

Spam Daily News, USA Today, and the New York Times report that AOL and Yahoo are going to allow bulk mailers to bypass their spam filters by paying a small per-email fee. AOL and Yahoo are touting this as a method to verify sender ids and reduce spam. But who would be buying the rights to bypass spam filters in bulk other than spammers? Improved consumer protection or sell-out? You be the judge.