Re: [Asrg] Spam Control Complexity -- scaling, adoption, diversity and scenarios

["John Fenley" <pontifier@hotmail.com>]

> From: "Alan DeKok" <aland@freeradius.org>
> Dave Crocker <dhc@dcrocker.net> wrote:
> > Instead of thinking about a disease that has been eliminated, think
> > about crime, war and cockroaches. It is not realistic to expect to
> > eliminate any of these, no matter how much any of us might wish
> > otherwise.
>
>   From a biological view, smallpox was eradicated only because there
> were no non-human vectors distributing it.  I'm not sure the same is
> true for spam.
>
>   To continue the disease analogy, the common cold is difficult to
> eradicate because it's ubiquitous, easy to transfer, and has few
> lethal side effects.  AIDS is difficult to eradicate because it's
> no common, difficult to transfer, and has a long gestation people
> before carriers realize they're sick.
>
>   Most diseases fall somewhere in between.  Spam looks more like the
> common cold than any other analagous disease, so it's probably going
> to be impossible to get rid of entirely.
I dissagree. It may have been that in the past spam didn't cause "lethal" 
side effects, but the recent rise in spam is literaly costing hundreds of 
lives per year (in lost productivity).

Spam uses human vectors to propegate just as smallpox did. The type of 
internet user who actually buys products from spam is the human vector that 
allows spam to complete it's "life cycle".

A system that makes it impossible for those people to recieve spam is 
nessisary if we are to eradicate this "plague".

I have heard many arguments against Challenge/Response systems, but many of 
those complaints have been about issues experienced internet users would 
face. I agree for the most part, but a lot of those reasons are not valid 
for "newbies".

C/R would not be good for a buissiness address.
     A buissiness is not going to buy from spam, thus they are not a vector 
for it's propegation.

C/R is annoying to people.
     C/R isn't going to stop a friend from emailing you. I'm guessing the 
majority of email a new internet user recieves is from personal friends.   
Also my twist on the turing test *could* be fun for a new user, and whomever 
decides to mail them.

C/R can mess with mailing lists.
     I proposed a system to fix that problem. I recieved no constructive 
criticism, and when I proposed government funding that became the issue not 
wether or not it could work.

The main advantage I see to C/R is that it does not require any technical 
knowlege, and it can prevent a new user from ever seing a single spam thus 
disrupting its propegation.

Filters of any sort, on the other hand, require user input and must be 
constantly trained as spammers evolve. Users will only do this after they 
see spam as a problem, this is probly after they bought their *free* viagra.

I see spam as a major problem. A 1% increase in overall productivity could 
mean the difference between a good economy, and a bad one. Spam decreases 
productivity. Immediate action is nessisary. I feel a disease eradication 
aproach is the correct one.

John Fenley

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