Yakov Shafranovich <research(_at_)solidmatrix(_dot_)com> wrote:
The SMTP protocol does not distinguish between attachements and
non-attachements, since it usually does not parse the body of the message.
That is, there is nothing within SMTP to allow a recipient MTA to
be informed as to:
a) size of the body
b) hints as to the content of the body
Right now, the recipient has to accept the entire message to obtain
this information.
If SMTP required the originator to publish the size and number of
messages they were trying to deliver, then that would provide
significant information to the recipient, which would allow him to
make better decisions about the messages.
e.g. I don't know who you are, and you want to send me a 1M message?
sorry, you get 10 kbps.
e.g. You said you wanted to send me a 1k message, and you've just
hit the 10k mark. I think I'll hang up now, and blacklist you.
These sort of protocol additions have *zero* impact on trusted and
honest users of SMTP. They can have large impact on the ability to
deal with malicious unknown senders.
But... SMTP is perfect as-is. Why would we want to change it?
Alan DeKok.
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