Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 15

Thread: the end of email?

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Posts
    4,785

    the end of email?

    http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupda...897473,00.html

    Imagine an Internet with no e-mail. As ludicrous as it sounds, it could happen. And it won't take some new virus or worm to render the Internet useless. All it will take is unsolicited commercial e-mail, otherwise known as spam.

    You think I'm kidding? Consider this: Spam begets blacklists, and ISPs use blacklists to isolate sources of spam. Already, these blacklists are preventing thousands, perhaps millions of innocent e-mails from arriving at their destinations. At the rate we're going, it won't be long before all e-mail ---- spam or not --- ends up in the dead letter bin.

    As I described in my previous column, a lot of legitimate e-mail is being blocked from getting to its destination because the system from which the e-mail originates has the same unique Internet Protocol (IP) address as a positively identified source of spam. In other words, if the service provider that hosts your e-mail is using the same physical system to host the e-mail of another customer, and that customer turns out to be a spammer who is discovered by the organizations that run the blacklists, then that system's IP address, along with all of the outbound e-mail (including yours) that comes from it, gets blacklisted

    *********************************

    This leads me to believe that if we want something done about spam maybe we should have it affect someone with clout, like AOL. If aol found that none of its subscribers could send email outside of their network something would be done about it on a global scale. Hell, that would be bad for buisiness!
    Bukhari:V3B48N826 “The Prophet said, ‘Isn’t the witness of a woman equal to half of that of a man?’ The women said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘This is because of the deficiency of a woman’s mind.’”

  2. #2
    AO übergeek phishphreek's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Posts
    4,325
    I think it is a valid argument. I hate recieving spam mail. I have found several ways around it though.

    For instance.

    When I want to recieve a newsletter or to sign up for a site, I use one address.
    ...to recieve personal mail, I use a different address.
    ...to recieve business related mail, I use a different address.
    ...to recieve school mail yet another address.

    I use other programs like mailwasher to pull down my mail first, then block anything and blacklist servers from the eastern part of the world where spamming is tollerated on their servers. I also use my firewall's privacy features to try to keep my personal data and e mail data from getting into the bots lists.

    All of this has helped, but not solved the problem.

    We have pretty much the same deal with snail mail but on a much smaller scale due to cost of postage and paper and the other various expenses. I recieve tons of snail mail but only a small portion of it I actually want and read.
    Quitmzilla is a firefox extension that gives you stats on how long you have quit smoking, how much money you\'ve saved, how much you haven\'t smoked and recent milestones. Very helpful for people who quit smoking and used to smoke at their computers... Helps out with the urges.

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Posts
    4,785
    At least snail mail can be put into a 'log-roller' and burned in the fireplace :-)
    Bukhari:V3B48N826 “The Prophet said, ‘Isn’t the witness of a woman equal to half of that of a man?’ The women said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘This is because of the deficiency of a woman’s mind.’”

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    174
    It is definitely getting out of control. That's why I started using choicemail on my pop accounts. Since the spam outnumbers the valid messages, I start with the premise that all email is blocked and I approve senders on an individual basis. If they send mail to me and are not approved, they get a customizable autoresponse asking why they want to contact me. It's got its downfalls, but overall I've been happy with it. I beleive the website is www.digiportal.com
    Mike Reilly
    bluebeard96@yahoo.com

  5. #5
    er0k
    Guest
    i dont think email *can* end. at least not end completely. i can see some changes being made for instance an UTC
    only allowing a certain amount of mail a day or even per minute./hour/second going out, and that everyone be made to use that client or something similar or email wouldnt work. But then you have to think of the security issues with that. Nothing could stop email. its the internets #1 tool.

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Posts
    267
    SPAM is a 'fallout' result of the DOT-gones. DOT.coms used to pay for websites by advertising free. With their demise, they have found other ways to spread their messages.
    Most SPAM(mers) use a spider progam against an ISP to get email addresses. And from what I understand it is a simple measure to block those spider programs (read that here some time ago). If ISP's would block the spider programs: SPAM would disappear

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Posts
    352
    what about using something similar to what a network card uses as an NIC address, since these are all unique, would the same apply to a dialup modem / dsl or something like that?

    maybe something like what is used in winxp activation could be used, like a unique hardware / computer serial no hash to identify each computer for the purposes of just this problem?

    and for those of you concerned about privacy online (which i am too) this would only be accessible for the pruposes of determining whether this computer is being used to distribute spam?

  8. #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    4,055
    Spam definitely does increase, maybe by the day. But certain measures can be taken to try to slow spam down to little/none. PhishPhreek has a pretty good plan and I'd probably think it would work. The only thing with that is the hassle. Having to check different e-mail addresses can be a pain, so I'm not sure how you'd take that. Another member is a mail filter or a program that auto-forwards junk to the trashbox. Some firewalls even have an e-mail control option to it that can help.

    There are many programs that will help with this increasing problems, but like Home Computer Security, it's up to you the actions you take against it. (Just make sure it's legal ).
    Space For Rent.. =]

  9. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Posts
    889
    I know I am really old now because I remember the day that one would be called or flammed have their very web accress acount called into question if one sent email to someone they did not know, some graces were given on the birth if the web but it was in general rude to send email to people you did not know. When did it go to hell? Best I can say is when AOL opened a portal ot to the web within weeks AOL users who were used to spamming each other begain to send it out to any valid email on a web page. AOL programmers think they invented something with spiders that harvested email address , well not really many knew how to do this only they were not so rude of a programmer to actually do it. So as history stands AOL innovations included SPAM, so lets all post AOL Webmaster and tanks him? LOL they block the very crap they started in 1996 also why but to make $$$. My slant on events between 1194 and 1996, throw in MS late 1996 1997 and crap M$ invented it all yep after invading the U of W and other Universities and under the freedom of information act figured out how it all worked
    I believe that one of the characteristics of the human race - possibly the one that is primarily responsible for its course of evolution - is that it has grown by creatively responding to failure.- Glen Seaborg

  10. #10
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Posts
    500
    dcongram , I agree that you need to eliminate the source, but when you consider that most names are gathered in like, lets say, chat rooms..... how are you ever going to stop that? Only possible if you stop the rooms.

    Anywho, its a big problem with no simple answer...
    Ron Paul: Hope for America
    http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •