I do find this topic interesting, perhaps this isn't the most appropriate place to discuss it, if not here though, where?
I'd like to make an observation. More and more people are using "social network" systems like Facebook in place of email. Also IM chatting is replacing a lot of person-to-person email. I actually get precious little spam through these alternatives to smtp email. This is primarily because in order to send me a message through one of these systems, you have to be on my contact list. Of course, this only moves the problem one layer up. In order to set up that reciprocal agreement, some exchange has to take place, either out of band, or via an invite (which could be spam). There are many different IM systems out there now. It annoys me that I have to get on lots of different systems just to communicate with everyone. I'd prefer to see one unified messaging system. SMTP email is going to be hard to replace. It would seem like our best bet is to bolt something on to it like an IM style contact list manager where you have to be on someone's contact list to be able to send them mail. The main problem with this approach is how does someone send you mail if they're not on your contact list? I don't have any magic answers how to solve that beyond what's already out there as in return messages with captchas in them or things like Blue Bottle seem to be quite effective. Michael Grant
