Michael.Dillon@btradianz.com said:
That's strange because you just finished describing how SOME companies are already engaging in email peering on a piecemeal basis. And how these companies ARE finding this to be beneficial in reducing costs. So please explain why my suggestion about widespread email peering agreements won't work?
Because I don't think "some companies" == "the entire population of email users", or even a sizable (ie widespread) part of that population. A large number of people are fine with the current system, and thus won't pay more for something else. Me, for example. Those who are unhappy will pay more for a better solution, and some small number with really deep pockets may be at that point where they will pay for something like "business class" email, in addition to the "tourist class" email they already have. You seem to repeatedly describe a solution that becomes so big that it (at least substantially) replaces 25/SMTP. That's what I don't think will work, or is needed.
And please don't suggest that webs of trust are not scalable. Given the techniques of scaling that we have in the 21st century, I simply don't believe that.
I don't think either are relevant to this discussion. In the utility model you seem to talk about (and that I was talking about) all you care about is the provider. If you contract with them for traceable, trusted spam free email, and they give you something less than that, they pay a penalty. The utility knows, and has a contractual relationship with, each endpoint, and presumably can keep track of traffic in its own network. Problem solved. And the whole thing doesn't need to scale, because there are a severely limited number of companies that would be willing to pay the costs for such a service. But they are out there, and one might be able to make a business out of it. Best, Ben