Originally posted here by MsMittens
If people would stop buying/investigating what the spammers had to offer we'd actually see a drop in spamming.
Hit ONE of the nails right on the head MSMittens! Supply and demand is definitely one of the core problems with SPAM: if nobody buys, noone will send the emails out. However, this wont be solved...junk mail (snail-mail that is) still exists doesn't it?

So instead of charging for email, as is the case in snail-mail, lets put some authentication in place giving you authorization to send the emails. A mechanism of accountability (re.; abuse complaint department when one of those _authorized_ senders spews tons of junk emails out).

Ah, so many nails to hit with trusty hammer...