Email is being abused as a broadcast medium. By deprecating all mass
mailings, and going RSS (i.e. pull feeds), we will cut the rug out from
under the feet of so-called "legitimate bulk e-mailers". Such a thing
will no longer exist by definition. They will stick out like sore
thumbs. Legitimate communities of interest can use RSS or internal
usenet feeds or web-bords or whatever.
--
This sounds strikingly similar to the http push er push of a few years ago.
remember everyone would have an "active desktop" and news and stories of
interest would be pushed to the user.
Does any one remember how successful that was?
the "http push" was in fact a pull system, the user would pull on to his
desktop feeds (RSS) from their favourite sources
if it failed then, what's changed ?
Regards
Chris
-----Original Message-----
From: asrg-admin(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
[mailto:asrg-admin(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org]On Behalf Of
Walter Dnes
Sent: Thursday, November 27, 2003 8:55 AM
To: ASRG list
Subject: [Asrg] 6. Proposals - depracate all list/bulk mailing and
change to RSS
On Tue, Nov 25, 2003 at 11:33:23AM +1030, Chris wrote
In my preferred implementation of a pull system some additional
steps are
added..
1/ sender connects to smtp host machine
2/ senders host accepts mail from sender (usually authenticated)
3/ senders host contacts recipients host machine
3a/ senders host sends mail waiting command (pull request)
3b/ recipients host acknowledges receipt of mail waiting command with a
unique message identifier.
3c/ senders host queues message tagged with ID
4/ recipients host processes request and can apply filtering algorithms
based on recipients personal preferences
4a/ recipients host contacts senders host with unique identifier, thus
authenticating sender.
4b/ recipients host issues a message accepted or denied command
(with the
reason)
4c/ if accepted mail is forwarded to recipients host machine
5/ receiver connects to his smtp host machine and uploads mail
You will notice that for the sender and receiver the process is
unchanged.
This appears very similar to "Insta-kiss" or "E-card" operations. "You
have email from an anonymous admirer. Click on
http://www.bad.example.com/mystery-admirer to find out...". Just as
those are open to abuse, so is your system.
Secondly, RSS already handles mailing lists better than mailing lists.
This brings me to make my own proposal... end all mailing lists as we
know them, and change over to RSS, or something similar (e.g. moderated
internal newsgroups). Mailing lists were originally set up in a "kinder
gentler" internet. Today they are being abused by spammers using
euphemisms like "permission-based", etc. The fringe spammers are
illegal now, even without the "(Yes, you) CAN SPAM" act. What worries
me are the "respectable" spammers, aka "mainsleaze" who are perfectly
free to blast away now.
Walter Dnes <waltdnes(_at_)waltdnes(_dot_)org>
Email users are divided into two classes;
1) Those who have effective spam-blocking
2) Those who wish they did
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