ichudov@algebra.com (Igor Chudov @ home) writes:
Another nutty idea: to create a database of people who do NOT want to receive unsolicited advertisements, and make it widely available.
This is not a nutty idea at all. It's a very good idea.
The obvious problem is that some very uncsrupulous spammers would want to grab this database and use it as a source of email addresses.
This problem has a solution, however: instead of distributing people's email addresses, distribute MD5 checksums of their addresses. For example, an entry for ichudov@algebra.com would be
b51175dae78f25427351d5e3ff43de30
There is no way to guess the original text from an MD5 checksum.
You misspelled SHA. :-)
Spammers should be advised to exclude all addresses with MD5 checksums from that database from the recipient list, and include instructions on how to get one added to the database into their spams.
Database maintainers could even provide a email filter-bot that would accept recipient lists by email and send back the same lists, but WITHOUT addresses that wish not to receive spam. This way stupid low-tech spammers (who make up the majority) will be able to process their email lists quickly and easily.
This database may be maintained centrally. Users may be able to sign up for inclusion into that database by email or by filling out a Web-based form. Identity verifications may be done by using cookie protocol.
This was discussed on this mailing list around September. Check the archives for good ideas how to add wildcards (like *@algebra.com) to the hashed list. --- Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps