In <20030307101045(_dot_)425bdc4e(_dot_)moore(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu>
Keith Moore <moore(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu> writes:
[Alan DeKok lists a bunch of attributes that STMP has that
contribute to the SPAM problem]
that's not a bug, it's a desirable feature
I think the attributes of SMTP that Alan listed *do* indeed contribute
to the problems with spam on SMTP. Whether it is a bug or a feature
is a different topic.
I disagree that all of these attributes are completely desirable
features, however.
For example:
- clients can claim to be anyone
that's not a bug, it's a desirable feature
I do not think that it is a desirable feature that anyone can claim to
be anyone. *Some* people may want anyone to be able to claim to be
them. From what I can tell, *most* people only want themselves to be
able to claim to be them. *Some* people want to be able to claim to
be themselves from many different ISPs.
I suspect that *most* people wouldn't care or even notice if this
attribute of SMTP disappeared, especially if they could still claim to
be themselves from any ISP that they wanted. I think problem is how
to do the latter.
- servers can amplify the problem
that's not a bug, it's a desirable feature.
In this case, I would say that the attribute of SMTP isn't that the
server can amplify the problem, but that it can amplify the problem to
arbitrarily large degrees. Rate limiting seems to be a very popular
thing to do and it seems to work reasonably well in many cases.
-wayne
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