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[IP] more on Why it is difficult to counter spam





Begin forwarded message:

From: Ed Gerck <egerck@xxxxxxx>
Date: September 23, 2004 5:41:38 AM EDT
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Cc: ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [IP] : Why it is difficult to counter spam

[for IP, if you wish]

....... Forwarded Message .......
From: Dave Crocker <dcrocker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
 Spam conforms to Internet technical standards.

How about STD0010 (RFC0821), for example where it says
that the reverse-path contains the _source_ mailbox:

  The first step in the procedure is the MAIL command.  The
  <reverse-path> contains the source mailbox.
        MAIL <SP> FROM:<reverse-path> <CRLF>

However would be irresponsible to make basic changes to an essential, global infrastructure service, without having a clear understanding of the impact of those changes and a clear consensus that the impact is acceptable.

Yes, and I'd vote for a solution that changes the least or, as it may well be possible, nothing at all. When people postulate that "changes are needed", they stop looking for solutions that don't need changes. Many years ago, the death of the Internet's expansion was predicted because IPv4 addresses were running
out and a change was neeed. NAT so.

However, authentication does not prevent spam. At a minimum, we need to add accreditation (reputation) mechanisms before we are likely to make any serious inroads.

Without authentication, it is not possible to use reputation. Con artists
learned this long ago.

Cheers,
Ed Gerck

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