It seems that within the last few months, the volume of spam has increased to the point where it may soon threaten to choke the internet email system. Only yesterday morning, I checked my ISP server to find 31 waiting emails, with only 2 of them "real" email. And that was only my "first check" of the morning!
I've always used Netscape (Communicator) as my email, newsgroup, and web tool. I like its simplicity and ease of integration. But the email "filters" in NS 4.08 are limited in their functionality and abilty to earmark and "trap" spam. And lately, it looks like the spammers are getting more and more skilled at crafting their junk mail so that it "works around" filters, at least for those of us using older applications that employ relatively limited and unsophisitcated filtering schemes. And the upshot is that -- even with spam filtering utilities that _do_ a good job of cutting out the trashmail -- you _still_ have to do a scan of the filtered mail to ascertain whether or not some _legitimate_ mail has ended up in the spam folder, as well. Having said that, I've found a small freeware/shareware utility that keeps 100% of the junk mail from ever touching my computer. It's called "POPMonitor": <http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/7923> It works in either "freeware" or "registered" mode. Unregistered, it lets you log into your ISP's email server and examine all the waiting mail by downloading the headers ONLY. You can then quickly browse through the header list and delete that which you know to be spam. Command-clicking and Command-dragging makes this a _very_ quick task. Then, hit POPMonitor's "delete" button and all the junk is disposed of _at the server level_. It never reaches _your_ computer. Once that's done, just switch over to your email app, hit the mail button, and download only the email you have pre-scanned to receive. POPMonitor's window has a "Receive" button that can be linked to your email application of choice to automate this, too. If you pay the registration ($25), it will enable a wide ranges of "blocks" and "filters" to automatically delete detected spam without your having to do so. I _think_ it can be configured so that it can do periodic "checks and deletions" automatically. I find that running in the "free" mode is all I need. When it's time to gather in email, I check my server with POPMonitor to see what's there, and delete the junk. Then I flip to Netscape and download the mail, confident that what I'm receiving doesn't need further attention (except, of course, for the reading!)... It's also worth stating that the utility is _very_ easy to set up and get running. I don't even recall that I had to read any instructions to get it running (typical Mac'er). Just download it, enter a few parameters for your ISP, and use it. True, it "adds a step" to checking your mail, and for this reason, I had put up with spam for longer than some others. But POPMonitor works so well, that the "extra step" of email checking that it does add is nearly "unnoticeable". **************** I can only see the spam problem as getting worse, regadless of any "laws" that might be passed at the state or federal levels to reign in spammers. Since the Internet is worldwide, any legislation will just cause spammers to move "offshore", or so "disguise" their junkmail that even domesticly-operative spammers will be difficult to detect. I believe the only way for Internet users to end the locust-like plague of spam will require changing the way email is sent. This will mandate an entirely new email "paradigm" that will require some form of encryption in order to get email _onto_ the net initially, and also require further encryption to "complete the email transaction" (i.e., make the email "placeable" into the final recipient's e-mailbox). What this will mean is that email will no longer be simply "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"; addresses will have to incorporate some form of encryption such as "[EMAIL PROTECTED]". The higher the level of encryption, the more difficult it will make it for spammers to "guess" at "legitimate" and "completeable" email addresses. "Good guesses" will still be possible -- however, the use of encryption will make their likelihood numerically infinitesimal. For the spammer, his chance of "scoring" must be reduced to the odds of winning at PowerBall. This won't make spam "unsendable" - it will still "be there" if spammers care to try to send it. Spam will still be able to exist as "static" in the baseline email system, or like stormclouds in the sky. But, those who choose to adapt the "new email paradigm" will be able to "fly above the clouds", so to speak, using new email technology that eschews the old "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" protocol for something new and encrypted. Can you imagine what things would be like if the crooks had access to your credit card information as easily as they have to your email address? That's the situation as it exists _right now_. This is why we have encryption for _financial_ transactions on the net, and also why we will soon need them for _correspondence_ transactions, as well. My _guess_ is anyone who can develop a new email paradigm that can be easily "grafted over" the existing system could end up nearly as rich as Bill Gates. Of course this new paradigm will render _every_ existing email application, including the one you're using now, obsolete. But the opportunity is out there... - John -- SuperMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... 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