Re: Spamming...

Although I can appreciate the editorials and comments of Mr. Candler, 
there is one fact that remains.

The only way to stop the spam problem is for networks operators to be 
held responsible for the traffic which they generate.  And, most 
importantly, the end users who generate the traffic must be held 
responsible.

I am not concerned about new technical ways of controlling behaviour.  I 
am concerned with new technical ways of accounting for behaviour and 
punishing it.

If I run an ISP of 10K customers and 40% of them are infected with some 
software that is used to send spam, then I need to know that they are 
infected and stop the flow of spam.  It is my problem that they are 
infected . . . because all my agreements with my upstream providers make 
it my problem.  But, more specifically, it is the customers problem.

We have been talking about treating a symptom of a problem.  Before we 
spend all of our time treating symptoms . . . maybe we should ask some 
other questions about the real problem.

Are we taking responsibility for the network flows (SMTP connections) 
coming from our own networks?
Do we really pay attention to our customer SMTP usage?
Do we allow customers to send to MX hosts directly?  Yes, that is within 
our direct control as network administrators.

If we, as network administrators, all cleaned up the SMTP network 
traffic leaving our networks, there would not be very much spam.  Or, 
should I say, if we made our customers responsible for what SMTP traffic 
they generate, and made them accountable, maybe we wouldn't have near 
the trouble we are having right now.

Quit talking about fixing symptoms.  Fix the problem.  Network 
administrators need to start implementing strategies for cleaning up the 
flows from their networks . . . and the rest of us can enjoy the benefit 
of less spam coming at us. 

Maybe we need IM2000.  But, right now we need to focus on the obvious.  
Fix the problem . . . not the symptom.