On Tuesday, May 27, 2003, at 08:51 PM, J. Noel Chiappa wrote:
Which is precisely why I say that the solution to spam is to charge for
email. It avoids the whole question of defining what is and is not spam.
More specifically, change the email protocol so that when email arrives from
an entity which is not on the "email from these entities is free" list, the
email is rejected unless is accompanied by a payment for $X (where X is set
by a knob on the machine).
This would be unfortunate for people who do not have a lot of money. Even if the payment were miniscule, 0.01$ or whatever, the payment system might require a bank account, or a credit card, etc., to participate in. That would effectively block out a substantial percentage of the earth's population, people who use community centres, libraries, schools, etc. for free access or internet cafes for cheap occasional access.
simon
-- www.simonwoodside.com -- 99% Devil, 1% Angel