All the good ISPs who want to fight
the spam problem should
participate
in a project to maintain a database,
much like DNS, with trusted e-mail
addresses.
Before e-mail ends in your mailbox
it
is checked whether the sender can
be
trusted. If it appears not to be on
the
Big
White List (BWL) your personal
white list is checked. If both fail, it
is
spam and you will not see it.
After a while some spammers are
going to use white listed addresses.
This is fraud and the receiver of the
e-mail will immediately notify the
victim by replying to the spam. The
victim can then try to sue the
spammer with existing anti-fraud
legislation.
This will eliminate spammers from
the Western world where anti-fraud
legislation is effective. Some victims
might even get rich when their
spammer is tracked down and
convicted.
The e-mail sent by Nigerian
spammers and the likes who abuse
white listed addresses can be
temporarily flagged in the white list
as soon as the first recipient of the
spam notifies the BWL. Any address
can be temporarily flagged by
anyone
like this, until the spamrun is over.
If a spamrun with your address is
reported, your e-mail can
only be saved by personal white
lists
by the people you send e-mail to.
You know when your address is
temporarily flagged by the BWL
because you will receive an e-mail
explaining why and how long the
flag
will remain. In the meanwhile you
might not want to send e-mail to
addresses of which you are not sure
to be included in their personal
white list.
If someone flags your address just
for fun his provider (if he takes part
in the BWL project) will terminate
his
contract and recommend to other
ISPs not to accept this person as a
client.
How will the BWL be set up?
- only addresses that exist for one
year or more
- no free or sponsored addresses
(Hotmail, Yahoo, etc)
- the client databases of all serious
ISPs
- only e-mail lists with
confirmed opt-in policies
If you use Hotmail or similar
addresses you have to make sure
your address is in the personal
white
list of a recipient you send e-mail
to.
ISPs can offer a service to their
clients to request access to a
personal white list through their
website. The owner is then notified
by e-mail about the request from
someone to be white listed.
This whole idea is not the Final
Ultimate Solution to the Spam
Problem but rather an extra service
for those who already have chosen
for white listing personally as a way
to prevent spam. Unfortunately I
can't use a white list myself because
I am a freelancer who
sometimes receives email from
strangers, although their
addresses can easily be recognised
as trustworthy with the mentioned
rules.