On 14-mrt-04, at 12:49, Dr. Jeffrey Race wrote:...
The only solution is one which removes from connectivity those who dump their trash on the commons. This is easy to do.
I don't think there are any easy answers here. If there were, they would have long since be implemented. What I think could work is a framework that allows different people to impose different requirements on strangers that want to send them mail. This has the advantage that different groups can choose different solutions that work well for that group. For instance, some groups may want to implement a PGP/GPG web of trust. Others may want to require a micropayment, and yet others solving a puzzle. By keeping the particulars outside of the mail protocols it should be simple to add new mechanisms so the arms race between spammers and victims could start losing its hare/turtle characteristics.
The IETF can develop standards for such framework, and in fact the ASRG has been discussing at some point various schemes to do so such as an extensible web of reputation, ability to mail sender and receivers to exchange information about what type of payment/trust token/etc. is needed prior to delivery, etc.
The decision to remove connectivity from those who dump the trash is one made by humans, and not standards. We can create standards to provide information that can be then used to make those decisions, but we cannot force any network players to make these decisions.
Yakov
