Rabid Wombat <wombat@mcfeely.bsfs.org> writes:
Well, it would seem some are helping to make my point; M.Duvos is calling for government intervention, in the form of an "Internet Driver's License."
It does not have to be the gubment. It could be a web of trust - like protocol. E.g. M.Duvos gives a pile of non-reusable, revokable cookies to people from whom he wants to receive e-mail. Every time one of them sends him an e-mail, he uses up one of his cookies. If he doesn't give me any cookies, and I want to e-mail him, I have to negotiate with someone who has a cookie and get one. Not sure how this would work with mailing lists...
There goes anonimity, which has, in general, been a "good thing" on the 'net. Here comes "big brother", to protect us from the evil anonymous spammer. Here comes more government infrastructure to enforce the LAWS that "we", as a society, have subjected ourselves to, so that "the few, the rude, the clueless" can no longer send out their anonymously sourced spam. Less freedom, more taxes. Why? Because someone out there is doing something because they "have the right", by the sole virtue of there currently being no law specifically against their particular behavior.
Folks who "fight spam" by forging cancels for any Usenet articles they don't like are no better than an opressive government. The infrastructure they've created for efficiently suppressing any information they don't want to be on Usenet can now be used by any government that wants to remove objectionable material from Usenet.
Still on the side of the spammer, Mr. May? The old fart is a spammer.
--- Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps