There are other techniques for fighting spam. I would like to see a trusted network that runs parallel to the port 25 SMTP network. The trusted network could also use SMTP as the protocol. The difference would be that the trusted network would have controlled access points -- namely, that the MTAs all share a whitelist of other MTAs and MSAs, and all submission occurs through a known MSA (that's Mail Submission Agent). This is not much different than what we have for Internet mail now. Many ISPs require that you submit mail through their mail servers (MSAs). The difference would be the controlled access throughout, which means that if there is spam, one can determine with a high degree of certainty where that spam originated. And that means there is some degree of accountability. Finally, since this trusted network would be run in parallel with the old SMTP network (port 25), that means we could still have the old system for casual use. The trusted system could be used for business. MUAs (Mail User Agents) could support both the trusted network and the untrusted network, and allow users to have mail from the untrusted network to be deposited into a special, low-priority inbox.
Posted by Doug Sauder at July 10, 2002 10:11 AM