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Very thought-provoking. Summary: Ancient protocol (SMTP) gets overwhelmed by modern requirements (spam prevention). Instead of updating the protocol (it's too
by neolefty 11y ago
Very thought-provoking.
Summary: Ancient protocol (SMTP) gets overwhelmed by modern requirements (spam prevention). Instead of updating the protocol (it's too entrenched), we hack around it (blacklists). But the hack is outside the standard, and it's more social than technical, so our software doesn't address it.
Could we standardize the blacklists so that we can address them with open/free software? (Assuming we don't replace SMTP itself.) Is there general interest in doing so (or conversely, is it against the interests of current service providers)?
- blfr 11y agoPublic blacklists are fairly standard, based on DNS. Removals less so but tracking down the right form is usually simple. Large providers, however, either aren't using these or augment them with in-house, non-standard, and undocumented lists and mechanisms.
- throwaway7767 11y agoSomeone has to maintain the blacklist, I don't think it matters whether they do so using free software or not. The other issue, not raised by this article (probably because the author hasn't hit that problem yet) is that some providers like gmail seem to flag things as spam just because the sending server is unknown. At least, I have mail being put into spam folders for gmail users even though my servers are on no blacklists. And no, I don't make a habit of sending enticing offers for "FREE V1agr4!!1"