Just a few years ago, there were numerous schemes calling for an implementation of email “postage” (normally 1 cent U.S.) in order to curb spam. Yahoo has even floated the idea within the past year.

I have to admit that a small part of me always hoped large email providers would go for this sure-to-fail scheme.

Why? If major email hosts started charging for email postage, it would light a fire under those of us who care enough about communication exchanges to improve the IMAP or POP protocols or create new protocols that would have a more federated approach.

In reality, POP and IMAP are actually still very good protocols despite their age and they have stood the test of time despite attempts to wall off access or place users into silos.

However, Twitter finds itself at a critical junction that POP and IMAP faced only briefly in the early 90′s when companies like CompuServe and Prodigy siloed access to their email systems so that a user couldn’t email users of competing services.

In the case of Twitter, there was no long development of fundamental protocols in an either academic or open-source setting. Instead, Twitter developed from the top-down but has become a semi-protocol itself.

I remember having breakfast with Tris Hussey at a web conference back in 2007 and discussing how Twitter would soon become the next IMAP. Two years later, I still have that hope, and I do think this era of Twitter-as-a-silo will pass. Within the decade, Dave Winer‘s dream of a federated and open Twitter deployment will certainly be a reality. I have no doubt.

The only doubt I have is the timeline.

What catalyst will light the fire under those of us who so greatly appreciate and are rapidly growing to depend on the Twitter semi-protocol to realize that entrusting Twitter Corp (the same company who brainstormed the SUL and stripped the service of its best feature (Track) to repurpose it for monetization purposes) is just as restricting as relying on CompuServe for email service a la 1994?

Will the shift to federated micro-blogging systems that communicate with each other develop organically or will there be a stimulus from within Twitter-as-a-corporation to force the issue?

Regardless of the timeline, Twitter-as-a-protocol wants to be free from Twitter-as-a-corporation.

Unlike WordPress, WordPress.org and Wordprss.com, Twitter-as-a-corporation doesn’t seem interested in the brilliant and wise move to allow for an open .org coral reef approach if users choose or a more managed and groomed .com platform for those who just want the basics (for a price when it comes to premium features). That’s just brilliant.

So, if it takes Twitter asking for users to pony up a few cents a month for us to realize this need, I’m all for the absurdity.

We’ll only get electric cars when the Big 3 U.S. automakers die. We’ll only get a federated micro-messaging system when Twitter-as-a-corporation wanes.

Let’s federate already.