On Sat, 4 May 2002, Forrest W. Christian wrote:
Passing laws and putting on filters don't work. Depending on each mail server admin to do the right thing doesn't work. We need to find something else that will.
Define "doesn't work"? Yes there is still spam - but the laws are in all cases relatively new (even on a technology timeline) and far from universal. None of these solutions is going to work overnight. The large amount of spam that people are filtering/bouncing at this point proves that they are far better than nothing. What might work, instead of setting up a micropayments system (would take years) or convincing the 'net to adopt a Camram type system (might not take as long, but it wouldn't happen anytime soon) is to set up a reliable, centralized blacklist/filter provider, and to enact and enforce anti UCE laws on a national basis. For the filters to work, they have to have a certain critical mass, in terms of users or sources to key into spam. If you're talking about expending all the energy to coordinate and set up the above, why not instead lobby for a federal law, and enforcement of that law, along with a centralized and well admin'd blacklist (who's operations would be funded in part by proceeds from enforcement of antispam laws). The point that the spammers would just go overseas was well answered by the fact that generally (not always, but in a huge % of the cases) there is a US based contact for selling the stuff. Spam has always been a problem - but it's become much more of a problem in the last 18 months. People dislike it - but I would be willing to bet the average person on this list gets more / has stronger feelings on / etc spam than the average public. The problem will get worse before it gets better - but I think it could be argued that the tools that are being developed now (filters, blacklists, etc) are the least intrusive, disruptive and most practical of the three options. I think the other thing that has to happen, which hasn't reliably yet, is that the large providers have to be better about cutting off spammers and isp's that support them. Run an open relay? Your immediate upstream is notified, and if they can't get you to fix it, _they_ black hole it till you do. That would get your attention and stop the spam. I'm interested that (as far as I've seen) there hasn't been much talk in this thread yet about the larger networks' role in the enforcement side of this. Whatever happens, it's going to take time to make work - more time than the current (possibly stopgap) measures have been given.