 linicxCaveat EmptorPremium
join:2002-12-03
United State
 ·Cass Communicati..
 ·CenturyLink
| What about ICANN? We can whine about spam until the polar ice cap melts but that is not going to stop the flow of junk mail or discover a solution that works. The problem as far as I am concerned starts with ICANN.
As long as I pay Verisign or Joe Blow for a domain name this is all that is necessary. I need not have a legitimate site or register valid information. Ninety percent of the spam promotes questionable content or questionable domains. Many are hosted by ISPs that harbor spammers. Verisign knows it, the offending ISP knows it, and so does ICANN.
If all Internet registrars are required to shut down every site registered with bogus information - and they were required to share the list globally - and if ISPs were required to close open relays, spam would be reduced to a more manageable level.
If HTML, executables, and attachments larger than 25kb were disallowed (other than photo) in mail this would reduce junk and virus files.
If all email servers required users a password each time to log in to collect mail, and a password to send mail, this too would help reduce the flow of junk mail.
If ISPs were required to use anti-spam and anti-virus filters it would further reduce the incidences of both spam and the nasties.
These requirements would not be optional, subject to government interference or ignored. The policy would be universal regulations and applied equally to all.
I recall a simple joke from years past that aptly applies to the crisis we have today. A college boy needed party money.
The Western Union message to his father and the reply follows.
Dear Dad, No mon, no fun. Your Son
Dear Son, So sad, too bad. Your Dad
The quickest way to the brain of do-nothing management is through the wallet. The message is simple. Play by the rules, or you cannot play on the web.
Since everyone on the server side would have the same problem, they could easily work together to provide free or inexpensive spam and virus filters with instructions to everyone with a server.
Then spam operators would be universally required to provide valid ID, valid address, valid contact information, proof of opt-in and a valid opt-out link to a verifiable source. Harvesting names from message boards and websites would be strictly forbidden.
Then and only then will the spam problem be reduced to a manageable level. I do not advocate stopping legitimate advertising, but I do advocate seriously reducing junk mail.
The cure is not found on the bottom rung of the ladder. It must be initiated at the top with tough rules and a trump card.
As the domino falls, so will the veteran spammer.
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