This might be obvious to some but I still wanted a feel for opinions on it.
There might not be complete coherence, but these are just ruminations.
We're deliberately creating glitches in The Matrix here, to borrow from said
movie, to slow down or stop those who take unfair advantage of it. No matter
what we come up with here, it seems agreeable that we have to change the SMTP
system to introduce accountability and end forging. Some of those changes
are going to break some functionality that a minority of users rely on, and I
see a lot of arguing over what should be broken and what should not.
A breakage deemed acceptable by some is blasphemous, in the most religious
sense, to others. We need to come to a consensus as to what should be broken
and what should not before we can proceed[1]. Patrik said this, Ted said
this, Dave said this.
Marshall's starting to bring us to that consensus by asking what identities
we should addresses. Even this comparably simple question's sparked
unproductive debate and confusion.
As I see it, the answers as to what should be broken and what should not are
already being decided by the users. To borrow from The Matrix again, Agent
Meng[tm] is spreading. So's Agent Bill[tm]. Soon they will spread beyond
our control until it's just the two of them. They, and the users they've
infected, er, convinced, will decide for us, ultimately.
Yet even with that, there will be enterprising folks who see the new blocks
in the system and find clever ways around them. Greeting card sites will not
stop just because We[tm] or They[tm] say they have to put certain bits of
information in their e-mail. They will just find another way to work within
the modified system. Even spammers, virus writers and their ilk will find
new ways to work within the system. Human beings are pretty clever, after
all.
And if WE are clever, we'll find a way to make them (the spammers and their
ilk) adapt in a direction we can control.[2]
[1] And then we need to ignore the religious fanatics lest they interfere
with that consensus, but that's another problem.
[2] Gee, I feel so like The Matrix's Architect. Insert The X-Files or
Twilight Zone theme here.
--
PGP key (0x0AFA039E):
<http://www.pan-am.ca/consulting(_at_)pan-am(_dot_)ca(_dot_)asc>
What's a PGP Key? See <http://www.pan-am.ca/free.html>
GOD BLESS AMER, er, THE INTERNET. <http://vmyths.com/rant.cfm?id=401&page=4>