Lance Cottrell writes:
I think one solution to this problem is to encourage (require) the use of pseudonym servers. Having a server like alpha as the entity on the from line has several advantages.
1) Less Spam since it takes some effort to set up the nym and it will be taken away as soon as the spam starts.
I fear this will be a short-lived gain. User-friendly scripts for establishing pseudonymous accounts are pretty easy to write. They may be beyond the average Fast Money Maker, but I expect myself and others will be putting them out on the Net for general consumption. I can certainly imagine one of those scripts being expanded to automatically create salesdroid001@nymsrus.org, ..., salesdroid999@nymsrus.org and emitting the same spam once from each pseudonym to a different destination. You would want to apply a statistical spam filter (of the kind mentioned recently by Greg Broiles) to the entire output of each pseudonymizer in an attempt to nip such spams in the bud. Semi-permanent account status confers privileges to the user, IMHO. I believe a pseudonymous account ideally should be treated the same as a regular account on an ISP. For example, an admin will not unilaterally close an account upon receiving a single complaint about the account user. Certainly I don't know of an ISP that routinely blocks its users' accounts from sending mail to selected other accounts. Lest I seem too presumptuous, let me say that I realize all immediately foreseeable pseudonymizers are free services. Clearly these service providers can set whatever policies they wish, and are not directly competing with the fee-charging ISPs. Perhaps future fee-charging pseudonymizers will consider these criteria in offering enhanced services. -Futplex <futplex@pseudonym.com>