>That's really the question at hand here -- whether or not there's any >benefit to continuing the "never ending arms race" game. Some people >think there is. Others question whether anything is really being >accomplished. Certainly we're playing it out like an arms race -- ISPs >block something, spammers find a new way to inject spam, and so on. >The end result of lots of time spend on blocking thins, less >functionality for customers ... but no decrease in spam.
I take it you've never run a mail system other than perhaps a tiny one for your friends. The alternative to the arms race is to abandon e-mail altogether. >The theory behind closing open relays, blocking port 25, etc., seems to >be: >(a) That will make it harder on spammers, and that will reduce spam -- >some of the spammers will find other other ways to inject spam, but >some will just stop, OR >(b) Eventually, we'll find technical solutions to *all* the ways spam >is injected, and then there will be no more spam. Interesting guesses, but wrong. R's, John
