A modest proposal... ;) (Re: Some real anti-bayes stuffing)

[David B Funk <db...@engineering.uiowa.edu>]

On Fri, 13 Feb 2004, Dan Melomedman wrote:

> SMTP is just a part of the infrastructure design, but it's not robust.
> Some people have recommended better designs, but nothing has been
> finalized yet. See cr.yp.to/im2000.html for instance.

OK, lets look at that proposed "better design"
(http://cr.yp.to/im2000.html):

|  Each message is stored under the sender's disk quota at the sender's ISP.
|  ISPs accept messages only from authorized local users.
|
|  The sender's ISP, rather than the receiver's ISP, is the always-online
|  post office from which the receiver picks up the message.

Hmm, I need a server at my site that people can connect to to pick up
the messages that I want them to read. Gee, I've got that Apache
server sitting over there, I'll use it.

|  The message isn't copied to the receiver's ISP. All the receiver needs is
|  a brief notification that a message is available.
|
|  After downloading a message from the sender's ISP, the receiver can
|  efficiently confirm success. The sender's ISP can
|  periodically retransmit notifications until it sees confirmation. The
|  sender can check for confirmation. There's no need for
|  bounces.

Got it, I just send my recipient a one-line note with a URL that
points to the message on my Apache server that I want them to read.
I keep sending these brief notes until my server log shows that they
grabbed that page.

Now where have I seen something like that already?
Ah, the Mr.Wiggly spam.  ;)

This is a GOOD thing to emulate???

Seriously though, this is a non-trivial problem that isn't going
to have any good, quick, easy solutions.

-- 
Dave Funk                                  University of Iowa
<dbfunk (at) engineering.uiowa.edu>        College of Engineering
319/335-5751   FAX: 319/384-0549           1256 Seamans Center
Sys_admin/Postmaster/cell_admin            Iowa City, IA 52242-1527
#include <std_disclaimer.h>
Better is not better, 'standard' is better. B{