Paul writes: > 1. does the ietf as a community generally believe > that provable mutual consent between a sender and > recipient is an achievable (technically) and > desireable (by the global user base) goal? It's certainly achievable technically, since other protocols already do it. I don't see it as desirable, though, since it would generate more overhead than spam does, and it would significantly slow and impede e-mail communication overall. Additionally, it might take decades for everyone on the Internet to adopt it, and those who did not would eventually be at a disadvantage, even if they were not spammers. > 2. if #1, does this same community believe #1 can be > accomplished by means of negative pressure (bayesian, > dcc, blackhole lists, hashcash, etc) on the current > e-mail system (smtp, rfc822, mime)? No. > 3. if !#2, then does this same community have any interest > in being a creative, ambitious force that brings this > functionality to the masses, or should this work be > pursued independently/elsewhere? Not applicable, given the answer to #2.