From: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri@netcom.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 08:22:03 +0800
To: Tim May <tcmay@got.net>
Subject: Re: Squelch discussions of the "spam problem"
In-Reply-To: <v03102815b1111e6934c2@[207.167.93.63]>
Message-ID: <199802190018.QAA20938@netcom13.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



I strongly disagree with TCM about not talking about spam.

I have commented on the list many times about the very
difficult problem of spam and how its not something that
ought to be ignored. it *was* ignored many years ago
and is continuing to get worse. it will *continue* to
get worse until some good solutions are found.

however, I agree with TCM in that I despise a legislative
solution and think that it would be a very bad idea, and
lead to new odious bureacracies.

I do believe that the spam problem can be solved with
a technical solution, and I urge cypherpunks as a group 
(oops, that's taboo and an oxymoron) to attack it technically.
that is part of the problem-- imho it requires a cooperative
& collaborative solution, which tends to defy the loner and individualistic
mentality that permeates cyberspace. 

why can't cryptographic ingenuity be applied to this problem?
in many ways it is similar to problems of "denial of service"
that keep repeating all over cyberspace because it is a 
very difficult problem to solve.

I suspect reputation systems might be extremely useful in attacking the
problem, and supposedly this is a cpunk area.

I'm going to try to write up an essay soon on spam prevention based
on some of the ideas I have bouncing around in my brain.