SP Happenings #36
Posted Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 20:44 CET by Sorcerer

Work on the redesign continues. We are currently in the middle of testing & implementing a pretty unique e-mail form. As those damn spambots quickly pick up any e-mails listed on SP, we'll do our best to have no e-mails listed anywhere in the new design in such a manner that spambots could automatically retrieve them. There are a few downsides to not having nice & easy mailto links listed, but at over 300 spam e-mails per day, which is the average of what I get, I'm really starting to get annoyed with it. Not because I would actually read any of them (since I always check the source code instead; easy to weed out junk that way without opening it), but because it simply takes time to weed all the trash out. And I really hate wasting my time on spam. It continues to amaze me that with all the technology at our disposal today, ISPs are unable to come up with solutions that would eliminate spam. Considering how easy it is for the spammers or viruses/trojans/etc. to fake the mail source, you would think they would be all for inventing a more secure way to deliver e-mail. But it just isn't happening. All you hear is "experts" talking about the dangers and ill effects of spam, and how it should be sanctioned, yet nobody introduces any practical plans of doing something about it. And by practical I don't mean "we'll fine or arrest anyone sending spam" schemes, which to anyone who knows anything about spam are an idiotic and laughable attempt doomed to failure. I'm talking about concrete technical, software and encryption solutions which would be implemented on the mail servers.

Although, granted, tarring and feathering a few spammers to set an example might give people some satisfaction as well. The only problem is, it wouldn't eliminate spam.