Bob has missed the point that my idea was a VOLUNTARY ALTERNATIVE. I am
completely serious, as this has become a serious issue. This has long
passed the point of "hitting the delete key a few times". And the cat
and mouse filter game will NEVER provide an adequate solution. As a
matter of fact, filters just make matters worse. The better the filters
get, the more spam a spammer has to send out in order to get the same
number of "hits". Ironically, better filters gaurentee a proportionately
higher number of spam. This is not a problem if you happen to be someone
who is good at tuning spam filters, and has the time to deal with them.
But for the 99.99% of us who have neithor the time, technical abilities
or patience, we can no longer trust the system as it stands, thereby
limiting it to a necessary evil to be used only with a redundant backup
at hand.
The only solution that will work is to provide an alternative service
that is not subject to the abuse that our current unregulated email
services allow. You do that by providing a service that restricts use
to only those who are willing to pay for it. The US Postal Service has
been providing a valuable service at a reasonable cost since it's
inception. It seems completely logical to me that they would be in a
position to do the same thing with email. It's a fairly simple and
obvious solution, as far as I'm concerned. And, Bob, don't worry... the
government will never take away your right to waste your time and
resources as you see fit. After-all, email as it currently exists will
always be an option.
Now. If someone has a reason, other than paranoia, that this approach
won't work, I'd really like to hear it.
Roger
-----Original Message-----
Robert Smith
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 8:14 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list CHIPDIR-L
God! Even more government intervention into our lives!!!
I'd rather click a few delete keys.
Surely, Roger was not serious and this was written as satire.
Bob Smith
--- Avoid computer viruses, Practice safe hex ---
-- Specializing in small, cost effective
embedded control systems --
http://www.smithmachineworks.com/embedprod.html
Robert L. (Bob) Smith
Smith Machine Works, Inc.
9900 Lumlay Road
Richmond, VA 23236 804/745-1065
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
----- Original Message -----
To: "Multiple recipients of list CHIPDIR-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2003 2:19 PM
> A friend and I were discussing the anti-spam laws recently introduced
> and we both decided that it will not work, mostly because it has no
> automatic mechanism to deter counterfeiting and lacks any funding for
> investigation and prosecution.
>
> I think the US Postal Service should establish a secure registered
mail
> server that is used to send and retrieve certified email. This would
be
> a new service backed by US law that would provide an alternative to
> existing email services for people and businesses to send email to
> one-another under strict conditions monitored and protected by the US
> Postal Service and its massive federally mandated resources.
>
> This is how I envision it to work. Each ISP would register with the
US
> Postal Service Secure Certified Email Server to be part of the
certified
> mail network. When I have an important piece of email that MUST be
> received and acknowledged I send it to the US Postal Mail Server, from
a
> certified ISP which verifies that I am in fact who I say I am. The
> recipients ISP sends the recipient an email informing him that he has
> mail waiting on the US Postal Service Mail Server. Ince the mail is
> read, am acknowledgement is sent to the sender. Of course, any mail,
> including acknowledgements, would be secured via an encryption
protocol
> that would require a federal search warrant to read (just like snail
> mail does now ). The law establishing the existence of the US Postal
> Service Secure Email Server would allow a nominal fee ($0.01 per email
)
> be charged to the sender's ISP which would be split between the ISP
and
> the Post Office to cover expenses, and more importantly screen out
> abusive e'mailers. The entire process would be protected under
> amendments to existing laws which provide the means for prosecuting
mail
> fraud.
>
> The entire premise is based on the concept that money is ultimately
the
> best regulator (as demonstrated by every existing and past government
I
> the form of taxes). A fee, set at the appropriate level, will benefit
> the average person/businessperson, while providing a disincentive to
> those who want something for nothing (current spammers). Also, this
fee
> would help to prosecute those that counterfeit the system by using
> existing modified mail fraud laws (something that is lacking from
> current spam control laws is funds for enforcement). I would gladly
pay
> a reasonable fee to ensure that important email is read. And of
course,
> I can always send an email using the current method if I don't mind
the
> risk of it being filtered out along with the 100 or so illegitimate
> emails that the recipient receives each day.
>
> This seems like an obvious solution, so I am curious to hear the down
> side possibilities.
>
> Roger M.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Declan Moriarty
> Sent: Monday, December 29, 2003 11:34 AM
> To: Multiple recipients of list CHIPDIR-L
>
> On Thu, Dec 25, 2003 at 03:34:19AM -0800, Bob Paddock enlightened us
> thusly
> >
> > > > http://mailfilter.sf.net/ Linux
> > >
> > > That's a bit iffy for a linux solution. Deleting unseen mail with
no
> > > recovery option. You'd want to get that tuned nicely first.
> >
> > Set TEST=YES and nothing gets deleted, it just test you what it
would
> > have done.
> >
> > I've used Mailfilter for as along as it as been around.
> >
> > Once in a while it does delete some thing that I wanted, usually
> > because someone changed there name, like from "Dan K." to "D. K." in
> > there email address.
> >
> > In those cases I simply ask them to resend it again based on what I
> > see in the log.
> >
> What's wrong with spamassassin or tmda(?). I like the latter approach
-
> a whitelist, and blacklist. If you are whitelisted, it allows it, and
if
> you are blacklisted, it dumps it. Anyone else gets a reply saying "If
> you are really out there and really want to send mail to <whoever>
just
> click 'reply'. If no reply comes, the spam goes silently after 3-5
> days. That way, you can be fairly sure you have a lead on whoever
spams
> you.
>
> --
>
> With best Regards,
>
>
> Declan Moriarty.
> --
> Author: Declan Moriarty
> INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> Fat City Network Services -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com
> San Diego, California -- Mailing list and web hosting services
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> Author: Roger Morella
> INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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> San Diego, California -- Mailing list and web hosting services
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--
Author: Robert Smith
INET: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fat City Network Services -- 858-538-5051 http://www.fatcity.com
San Diego, California -- Mailing list and web hosting services
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Author: Roger Morella
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