inline >Tom Petch <nwnetworks@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> One reason why spam works is that it is so cheap to send 1M messages >> that even if 99.99% fail to reach a destination, the operation is still >> a success. If sending 1M messages got back a 1% response saying 'you >> failed' with no clue as to which 1% failed, we might cut down on the >> spam. > > There may be a Principle there, about any "cost" imposed upon >spammers tending to reduce the spam problem... > >John Leslie <john@xxxxxxx> Yes, that is what I had in mind; use any means available to make it unattractive; persuade them to turn their attention to some other technology. My other thought is triggered by an e-mail which came interspersed amonst this thread containing the following (and I hope this content does not trigger too many false positives) <extract> *** Anonymous Bulk Email Software *** is a super fast bulk email software that sends out at speeds greater than 1,000,000 emails per hour* on a dedicated mailing server. *** has the capability to use Proxies and Relays and also to send directly. Some of the features include: Anonymous Mailing using Proxies Message Randomization to bypass Spam Filters Speeds over 850-950K emails per hour on Turbo Mode Up to 1000 Threads Unlimited Email List Size (up to 100 Million per file) HTML and Plain Text Emails Tag Macros to personalize and randomize emails Custom Headers ....... more on </extract> Something along the lines of 'Know your enemy' comes to mind; get hold of such a product, reverse engineer it, find its weaknesses and nullify it. I am thinking that spam is and will remain a long-term battleground and it needs serious effort to counter, perhaps a Cert-like organisation, and we are just not putting in enough serious effort yet; perhaps the cost to us is not yet high enough to stir us to action. Tom Petch