SJS wrote:
Part of the problem is that we're using a SIMPLE mail transport protocol. Maybe we need a smarter protocol. I'm not sure we can do that without throwing away some of the nice things about SMTP, however.
Unfortunately many mail servers don't even comply with the protocols SMTP has. If one sets up their server to check all connections for proper protocol, then a lot of mail would never get through, even legitimate mail. My server does a lot of checking before a message transfer is allowed, which eliminates 90% of the crap. If I configure a couple more things in the process, then probably a lot of legitimate e-mail from people I want mail from would not get through because their mail servers are mis-configured.
I have seen many proposals for new mail systems, but not only would we have to throw away some of the nice things about SMTP, but we'd also be completely incompatible with it. Where would the state of e-mail be then?
Ayup. But, if you save yourself that work, you want to offload it to someone else, then they can rightfully object, as that's only fair as YOU object to spammers making you click on "Junk" and "Delete". Now, if you want to think of yourself as a specialized mailing list, treat it like that. Have people send a SUBSCRIBE message to you and/or put up a webpage, so that you can have this opt-in behavior.
I've thought about configuring my randomlogic.net mail such that no one can send me mail through it without following all SMTP protocols to the letter. It already blocks a lot of crap, but it could be configured to block even more. Doing this I may not even need any spam filter.
So when a spammer puts himself on your whitelist, that's fine too? 'Cuz that's what will happen if this approach becomes widespread -- you bounce a reply-to-this-to-get-on-the-whitelist message back, and it's replied to automatically, and bingo, the spammer is in, and non-spammers get to deal with MORE junkmail.
Then they get moved to the ignore list as soon as spam is received. It just goes to show that no solution is perfect, which is why spam is still such a problem (and only getting worse).
PGA -- Paul G. Allen, BSIT/SE Owner, Sr. Engineer Random Logic Consulting http://www.randomlogic.com -- KPLUG-List@kernel-panic.org http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
