I'm not so sure that is a technology problem to be solved at all. I'm more concerned, frankly, with the junk mail that ends up in my snail-mail box than an occasional spam, no matter how annoying it is. I'm convinced that responsible actions on the part of the ISP can remedy this type of behavior, even though it is after-the-fact and reactive in nature. As someone already mentioned, we need to stop thinking of the Internet in US-centric fashions. The Internet spans continents and has no regard for national boundaries or knee-jerk legislation. Sorry; I just don't agree. - paul
Paul, none of the suggestions I have seen so far (in more than five years) offer something which 1. is an effective solution, 2. is technologically possible, and 3. places the burden of blame on the perpetrator.
If you can propose a solution which does not imply:
...imaginary technology to intuit a commercial message from its content (can anyone say "content based routing"? ;)
...making the management of the affected resources more rigorous than current practice
...punishing the ISP for the actions of its customers
...complex or impossible deployment issues
...added administrative cost
I and many others would LOVE to hear about it.
I am the first to agree with Shakespere on the value of certain members of the legal profession.
This time, however, I do not see any recourse. Do you?