-----Original Message-----
From: Vernon Schryver [mailto:vjs(_at_)calcite(_dot_)rhyolite(_dot_)com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2003 10:41 AM
We have agreed is that as people configure and run STMP
servers for various good and bad reasons, an SMTP server may
not know the final address and so may have problems doing
proper spam filtering.
However, that fact does not imply that filtering cannot be
done before the end of the SMTP transaction or that it is not
best done then. You seem to be asserting to the contrary that
filtering must or should be done primarily during final
delivery. We certainly have not agreed on that, although
there have been some recent statements by others in support
of that view.
That fact also does not conflict with the fact that most
filtering could be done during the STMP transaction given
perhaps onerous efforts to synchronize user databases,
whitelists, logs, and so forth among SMTP servers.
I suspect that most filtering today does not need any
synchronizing among SMTP servers but could be done during the
SMTP transaction given appropriate filtering software. For
example, it sounds as if the SpamAssassin milters need work.
None of that implies that additional filtering during final
delivery cannot or must not be done.
It is clear that there are reasons to do filtering as part of the SMTP
transaction as well as difficulties in doing so. In many cases this is
straightforward; in other cases, there are substantial efforts to achieve
this in some cases; and in other situations, there are limitations that may
make this inachievable.
An IETF/IRTF working group mailing list is not like netnews
or SPAM-L. It is not merely a forum for stating positions and
exchanging views. It is a tool for generating and guaging
consensus on technical issues. Regardless of heat, this
mailing list must address the issue of whether filtering
SHOULD (in the special meaning of RFC 2119) be done during
the SMTP transaction. If we can't reach consensus on such a
fundamental and simple issue, then this mailing list is
distinctly worse than useless.
We should articulate the benefits of providing filtering within the
transaction as well as explain the implications of not doing so.
This also depends on the document that this will be a part of and the
context of the statement.
_______________________________________________
Asrg mailing list
Asrg(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/asrg