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Re: [Asrg] 6. Email Path Verification (hashcash benchmarks)

2003-09-14 09:11:32
Brad Knowles explained:

Indeed. We need to be careful about the SMTP Response Codes that we issue on a hashcash-enabled MTA.

problem. You are looking at the hashcash model in a classic but fundamentally flawed way. I have a very different insight which camram takes heavy advantage of. This insight is that e-mail really consists of two protocols, the transport layer (SMTP) and the content interpretation layer (headers and body). By recognizing that you only need to change the interpretation layer to include stamps or certificates or whatever, the problem is simplified.

camram puts all of its efforts into the interpretation where because that's where you need to make the decisions about spam. Now you may want to have some additional authentication features at SMTP layer but that is completely independent and orthogonal to what camram does.

camram implements electronic stamps. Stamps go on the envelope and are associated with the message independent of how you get it there.

although I have discovered that server side filtering and stamp generation really needs to know who is okay and who is not for sending messages. It's probably going to require either multiple interfaces (for enterprise) or SMTPAUTH for the general ISP case.

That sounds like an interesting first-pass, yes. Of course, this would have to be integrated into the default version of SpamAssassin that everyone installs (and other filtering agents), in order for something like this to be of value. Otherwise, you're calculating this stuff and stamping your messages with it for nothing.

well, that's is what will be happening with camram 0.2. All messages classified as "yellow" (neither spam nor ham) will be triggering postage due notices. So with no stamps, it's what you describe.

there is a problem with setting up a response only environment and that is determining when to start generating stamps. If we implement automatic postage due response handling in the very beginning, then once you hit the 10 percent threshold for postage due notices vs. outbound mail, then it might be possible to do that. It would also have the advantage of giving folks chance to establish a white list and minimize stamp generation from the get go.

anyway, this is definitely getting into the implementation realm and I encourage you to sign up for the camram mailing list (it's low-volume, believe me) and start making this shared vision real.

---eric

PS, I've been living with stamp generation for the past four months on a Pentium II/333 in foreground mode and it doesn't suck too bad although it would be better in the background. Check the headers.



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