As a technical standards group, we can define the general
protocol that can
be used for such systems leaving the actual implementations
aside. This is
similar to the efforts on developing an interworking C/R
protocol by Eric
Dean. Just like all other solutions (C/R for ex.), an
economic up-front
system will not be acceptable to everyone and not everyone
will be using
it. As Dave Crocker states in his draft
(http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-crocker-spam-techco
nsider-01.txt):
"it is not clear that it is possible to retroactively fit the necessary
mechanisms to Internet mail. Its complete absence from the current service
and the existence of anonymous and free email services may provide too much
operational inertia. It is also not clear who should receive the fees or
how they should be disbursed."
Therefore, I think we should look at such systems as one of the possible
solutions against spam. There are already some startups that use this
system. Our goal as a standards group should be on standardizing a protocol
that can be used by many such systems to interoperate among themselves.
Whether the actual systems SHOULD be implemented or recommended is a
different question, but based on what we are seeing now, some of these
systems already exists and more will be implemented - just like the many
C/R systems. Our goal is to make sure they interoperate.
This seems to be a common misunderstanding. This is the Anti-Spam Research
Group. We are not a 'standards group'. We are here to conduct research
focused on the spam problem. Specifically, our purpose is "to understand the
problem and collectively propose and evaluate solutions to the problem." So,
while we "may develop certain technologies that could serve as a starting
point for standardization efforts within the IETF", we still have a
responsibility to provide a voice towards recommending particular solutions
based on our understanding of the problem, view of the solution space, and
evaluation of solutions.
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