In this fast-paced digital age, e-mail is intended to eliminate many of the inconveniences of old-fashioned snail mail: It doesn't come in an envelope; it can be received any time of the day, and it doesn't require expensive postage.

But if some technology bigwigs have their way, e-mail messages may soon arrive in inboxes with an electronic stamp attached -- a stamp that senders would have to pay for.

Last month, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates spoke to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in support of e-mail stamps to curb the increasing problem of junk e-mail, or spam.

E-mail stamp supporters say the amount of spam would decrease drastically if senders were required to pay as little as a penny per message.

Kevin Morooney, senior director for academic services and emerging technology in Information Technology Services, said he is skeptical idea.

"There is no solution to stop spam completely ... There is no silver bullet for anything," Morooney said.

He said there is little information available about what the companies are proposing.

According to some proposals, an e-mail stamp would not be a stamp at all, but rather an encrypted code number inserted in the message's heading.

Linda Bartraw, State College postmaster, said unless current laws are changed, e-mail postage systems would probably have to be approved through the postal system because postmarks are protected by federal law.

Bartraw said, however, that e-mail postage could benefit the postal system because about 15 percent of its first-class mail has been diverted in recent years by the Internet.

She said she doesn't think people should pay for normal e-mail correspondence, but official documents or mass e-mail messages should be encrypted.

"For everyday things, it would be annoying to pay. I have a computer at home, and I already pay for Internet service, so I wouldn't want to pay for everyday services. But certain things I think it should be used for," she said.

Roberta Baker (junior-kinesiology) said she writes at least five e-mail messages a day.

"I would rather receive spam than pay to send e-mail," Baker said.

Jen Freeman (sophomore-advertising) said spam mail would not decrease even with a new system.

"I feel that people and companies who send spam would do it anyway even if they had to pay because they just want to get their stuff out there," she said.

Yahoo! is working with an e-mail postage system, called Goodmail, to evaluate and develop a plan. One of Goodmail's proposals is that only high-volume senders pay "postage."

However, neither Yahoo! nor Microsoft has committed to any sort of plan for charging postage, as many Internet users are skeptical about the technology.

"Some analysts I've read said this is just a suggestion that would do nothing but put money into the coffers of Microsoft and Yahoo! Both have a stake in the interest of how spam is handled. They don't want to see any legislation to stop their own spam," Morooney said. "With no details about the plans, there is really no credence behind them," he Morooney said. "Until they come up with specifications and implementations, I don't think that we can expect a solution for spam any time soon."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.