Russell Nelson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> He means "use a different ISP's SMTP relay." Yes, this means making
> arrangement. Did you expect that stopping spam would be free? Dan's
> proposed solution involves *paying* to send email.
I think Dan's mistake is right here:
A long-term solution is to insist on prepayment for unauthorized
resource use. The tricky technical problem is to make the
prepayment enforcement mechanism cheaper than the expected cost of
the attacks. ^^^^^^^
Perhaps it's a mistake to worry about the cost of enforcement, so long
as the cost of attacks is prohibitive. With filthy spammers corrupting
the virtue of _our_ internet, we should consider this a wartime
situation.
I for one would be glad to pay at least .37 US dollars per email, if
it helps to reduce spam. This, then, is my proposal:
1. Pass US laws and international treaties replacing SMTP with an
authenticating protocal. Through threat of fines and
imprisonment, force adoption of the new protocol by a sufficient
majority of providers. This will render SMTP impractical for
widespread use, just as dialup-blocking threatens to render
direct delivery infeasible.
By explicitly outlawing SMTP, we can be fairly sure that a
substitue protocal will not be adopted; to do so would require
some sort of consensus. Even implementing SMTP on port 965 is not
a great risk--too many people would prefer port 923, or 817.
2. Impose penalties of fine and imprisonment on anyone who directly
misuses the new authenticating protocal. Aim the penalties at
ISP's and relay hosts; we already observe that they will be much
more draconic at enforcement than any democratic government
would dare.
3. Empower local/federal governments to issue authentication tokens
for the new protocal; these "email stamps" should cost at least
10% more than snail postage purchased from the same authority.
Voila! Spammers will observe that postage is cheaper than an "email
token", and spam will be a thing of the past.
Len.
--
16. Do not Puff up the Cheeks, Loll not out the tongue rub the Hands,
or beard, thrust out the lips, or bite them or keep the Lips too open
or too Close.
-- George Washington, "Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour"
