Re: Why spam is a problem.

[Bill Sommerfeld <sommerfeld at orchard.arlington.ma.us>]

spam is a non-technical problem.  the ietf is not well suited to
solving such things.  

Has anyone been following the legislative discussions related to spam
legislation?  what's the blocking factor preventing it at (say) the US
federal level?

One possibly hairbrained half-technical idea which I haven't seen
suggested elsewhere..

Defines a SMTP connect banner token which is the moral equivalent of a
"no soliciting" sign.  It indicates "unsolicited commercial email not
welcome at this server".

Now, lobby for the creation of laws which subjects someone who sends
spam despite the "no soliciting" sign to a significant fine
($1000.00/message?), payable to the recipient.

I suspect that anti-spam organizations would quickly evolve into
collection agents (for a cut of the fine, of course).

					- Bill