Re: [9fans] re: spam filtering fs

[ron minnich <rminnich@lanl.gov>]

what if we chuck smtp altogether?

no matter how you cut it, the problem originates with smtp and its
dependence on the kindness of strangers. That was all fine back in The
Good Old Days, but it really sucks now.

Could we set up a mail protocol that requires something like this:

import somewhere /mail /mail

then open files in there and write to them. Maybe just one file, called
'mailto' or some such.

The fact that you can import means that you have gotten inside a trust
boundary. You'll have a verifiable trace of who wrote what when.

If you're filtering messages after you get them, it's already too late --
they've wasted your disk space and your net bandwidth. The numbers for
ISPs are depressing, in that most of their net bandwidth is SPAM-width.

Obviously you've got to have hosts that span multiple trust boundaries.
Maybe that's too easy to get around. Also, this removes the ability of
someone you don't know to send you mail, but I'm about ready to give that
up, as most of the people I don't know who send me mail now want my bank
account numbers or want to send me a ruler.

But this business of spam filtering sounds like negotiations with burglars
after they are inside your living room and packing up your DVD collection.

Just wondering.
ron