>>And how do you fix the problem of unsolicited USENET articles?
>>(*ALL* of them are unsolicited to someone). Or unsolicited
>>email?
>
>Read my essay.
>http://mindprod.com/projects.html/mailreadernewsreader.html
>
>I talk around those problems.
>
>It requires a fresh start.
This URL does not work. However, from some of the other replies,
it seems that your suggestion involved identification of the sender
with digital signatures.
I think one necessary function of email and USENET is that it should
allow you to SAFELY communicate with strangers or, worse, people
you know but do not trust at all, and who are known to be malicious,
if you wish to do so, especially since meeting in person might
invoke the use of weapons of mass destruction (like, for example,
me and my hypothetical ex-wife).
For example, George W. Bush ought to be able to exchange email with
Osama Bin Laden without risking revealing nuclear launch codes.
Hitler and Winston Churchill should have been able to exchange email
(had it been available during World War II) without revealing state
secrets accidentally. I ought to be able to exchange email with
my boss without his being able to track if/when I read it. I ought
to be able to communicate with the Direct Marketing Association to
get them to take my name off a mailing list without risking spyware
installation or revealing my credit card numbers. Union leaders and
management should be able to negotiate by email without unwittingly
leaking information.
HTML is *mostly* dangerous. (links. Javascript. references to
other files on the user's computer. Forms.) It's a lot more than
text formatting. I suggest that if you want a text formatting
language, start with *TROFF* and take out the parts that refer to
other files. As far as I know, troff doesn't have any networking
references in it. Lots of people probably hate troff, but it's a
better start than HTML.
Gordon L. Burditt
--
http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
