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Story: Spammers 'tricking ISPs' into sending junk mail

Posted by: Stephan Seitz (Wednesday 9 March 2005, 4:54 PM)

Hi!

i'm currently in charge of setting up ISP MX's and Filters.
But, i don't agree to Dan Ilett's article. Indeed, spam from customer accounts IS a problem, but not this big, to proclamate the beginning end of SMTP.
Yes, it's an ongoing 'fight' against spammers and even if the filters are getting better (at provider-level: refer to SPF and equivalents) spammers will use techniques against them.
Essentially, i believe the whole spam problem cannot be solved on a technical base, well, today you're able to seal systems nearly perfect, but regular users won't deal with certificates and keys, they expect easy use.
I believe, the spam problem has to be solved at an political and legal level. As long as it is possible to sell products advertised via spam only, we're fighting against windmills.

Only my two cents :)

Stephan