[PLUG] Protecting bandwidth...

[Aaron Burt]

On 3 Sep 2003, Michael C. Robinson wrote:
> What would it take to avoid the bandwidth losses from spam?
> Do the ISPs have to stop it?

Yup.  But filtering on your end can at least avoid the time losses.

> Is email going to have to be graded by ISP's at some point
> based on a spam scale, 1 being definitely spam whereas 10
> would definitely not be spam?

That's what SpamAssassin and many other antispam systems do.

> How could such a system be implemented without creating zero privacy or
> large scale false positives?

Privacy?  Email is as private as a postcard.  Avoiding false positives?
That's the very soul of the art of spam filtering.

I'm glad you're curious about this stuff, and you're obviously putting a
lot of thought into it.  It's the sort of thing system administrators
think about and research and discuss, and they've been doing it for a
while.  A bit of Googling and reading will sate your curiosity far better
than anyone here can.


Please try to be considerate of other people's time,
  Aaron