Would you pay for email (to stop spam)?

[RumPuncher]

I just read another facinating article in my favorite magazine,

about spammers and the proposed solutions to the problem.

 

The Economist's Solution to Spam Emails

summarized and bastardized by your pal kilo

 

In the golden age of the internet before the X10 spycam

and The Gator Coperation, things were self regulated and good.

People were amazed that they could send electronic letters

to friends, family and co-workes with llittle additional expense

after the initial set up of a computer and some cables.

Amazing times indeed!

 

Well then then came spam (latter followed by pop-ups and then spyware)

 

First the Nerds tried to beat spam by inventing filters for emails.

This wouldnt work because spammers are also nerds and

could pay some even bigger nerd to find ways around the filters.

Also these filters risked blocking real mail from people who know you.

So that girl you gave your email to... might have actually sent you mail.

Never send a Nerd to do the governments' job!

 

So the politicians made laws against unsolicited emails in over half the states.

The spammers set up computers off shore and thumbed their noses at us again.

 

So is there a solution? YES Pay For Email!

Now it's very hard to start charging for what was previously a free service,

and that's not exactly what I'm proposing. Think that the spammers can send

out a million junk emails and if only one sucker is seperated from his money, then profit is made.

Well what if it cost something like $0.01 to send am email. That could make spammers stop?

Or what if you had to buy credits to send emails, but that credit is returned to you

upon a sucessfull delivery. You only pay for the email if it's unwanted.

In theory you could never pay for a email as long as you type the correct adress.

(and actually know the person, or have something relevant to say to them)

 

So would you be willing to pay a few dimes a month (invisible on your ISP fees)

in order to stop spammers from fucking with your inbox? After all....

60% of all emails is spam.

 

(and the rest are retarded forwards. booo!)

 

 

[/rant]

[metallix]

NO THIS IS AN ATTEMPT BY CORPORATIONS TO CENTRALIZE THE INTERNET AND CONTROL COMMUNICATIONS

 

IF THIS WERE TO EVER HAPPEN, I WOULD SIMPLY SETUP THE FREE E-MAIL NET. IT WOULD BE A DECENTRALIZED EMAIL SYSTEM OVER P2P. NO FEE'S ,EVER. spam is entirely avoidable if you have 10 cents of intelligence (which obviously, most people don't)

[caL]

nah screw that, i can put up with it

[Guest]

yeah that's one solid way of looking at it.

But for the average AOL granny who doesn't

care about things like 'privacy' or such matters.

 

Certainly there are people who would never go for that,

but there's also a few million people on AOL who would.

 

discuss.

[poes]

haha

 

man fuck that

[AREANKAY]

i have comcast and i have yet to recieve a peive of spammail in any way and i know on AOL i woukld always get that shit and i would never even use the email addy to sign up for anything

[Fabo 2]

nonononononononononono. NO

[BOZACK]

non madame.

je suis povre.

[villain]

That ain't going to work. People want free email and they are going to get it if someones gotta set up the SMTP themselves....

Here is an article on Baysian filters... however I don't think this will work either cause spammers could get around it the same way they get around current filters... by changing keywords... g1rlz fu ck D0nk3y5!!!

GFI White Paper Describes How to Block Over 98% of Incoming Spam

Market Wire - October 15, 2003

LONDON -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 15-10-2003 -- GFI today released a white paper to highlight the latest and most effective method of blocking spam: Bayesian filtering. Describing this powerful new technology in detail, the paper outlines how network administrators can achieve a spam detection rate of over 98% through Bayesian filtering at the mail server or gateway level. The document can be viewed at http://www.gfi.com/mes/wpbayesian.htm.

 

Why traditional anti-spam methods are no longer enough

 

As GFI's white paper explains, the techniques currently used by anti-spam software -- such as blacklist checking, databases of known spam and keyword checking -- are static, making it fairly easy for spammers to evade such filters simply by tweaking their message a little. These technologies are far from obsolete, but they cannot be used as effectively as needed if not combined with a new adaptive technique that remains familiar with spammers' tactics as they change over time. GFI's white paper shows how the answer lies in Bayesian mathematics, which can be applied to the spam problem, resulting in an adaptive, statistical intelligence technique that is much harder for spammers to circumvent.

 

"We believe Bayesian filtering is the way ahead in combating spam," said Nick Galea, GFI CEO. "The Bayesian approach is the best way to tackle spam once and for all, as it overcomes the problems posed by more static technologies while also being able to adapt to the particular organization that it is protecting from spam. A recent BBC report, for example, said that spam detection rates of over 99.7% can be achieved through Bayesian filtering with a very low number of false positives. This is the kind of anti-spam solution that enterprises are seeking today."

 

How the Bayesian spam filter works

 

Bayesian filtering is based on the principle that most events are dependent and that the probability of an event occurring in the future can be inferred from previous occurrences of that event. This same technique can be used to classify spam. If a piece of text occurs often in spam but not in legitimate mail, then the next time that same text is encountered in a new email, it would be reasonable to assume that this email is probably spam.

 

Custom organization-based filtering

 

Before mail can be filtered using this method, the user must generate a tailor-made history for each word or token (such as the $ sign, IP addresses and domains, and so on) that is specific to the company being protected. A probability value is assigned to each word or token, based on calculations that take into account how often that word occurs in spam as opposed to legitimate mail. Once the word probabilities have been calculated, the filter is ready for use. GFI's white paper provides more detailed information about this process, highlighting that this analysis is performed on the company's mail, and is therefore tailored to that particular company.

 

For example, if using a general anti-spam rule set, a financial institution that legitimately uses the word "mortgage" in scores of daily email messages would get many false positives. The Bayesian filter, on the other hand, takes note of the company's valid outbound mail and would recognize "mortgage" as being frequently used in legitimate messages. It therefore has a much better spam detection rate and a far lower false positive rate. Additionally, the Bayesian filter is constantly updated based on new spam and valid emails; its performance therefore improves over time and adapts to changes in spam tactics and/or changes in the kind of emails written by users within the organization.

 

In a nutshell, Bayesian filtering offers the following advantages in the battle against spam: -- Looks at the whole message -- Adapts itself over time -- Is sensitive/adapts to the company/user -- Multilingual and international -- Uses artificial intelligence -- Hard to trick. Bayesian protection at mail server/gateway level.

 

GFI MailEssentials for Exchange/SMTP offers spam protection at server level and eliminates the need to install and update anti-spam software on each desktop. GFI MailEssentials offers a fast set-up and a high spam detection rate using Bayesian analysis and other methods. GFI MailEssentials also adds key tools to the mail server such as disclaimers, mail archiving and monitoring, reporting, and more. Pricing starts from as little as US$275 for 10 users. More information about GFI MailEssentials and a trial version are available at: http://www.gfi.com/mes/.

 

About GFI

 

GFI is a leading provider of Windows-based network security, content security and messaging software. Key products include the GFI FAXmaker fax connector for Exchange and fax server for networks; GFI MailSecurity email content/exploit checking and anti-virus software; GFI MailEssentials server-based anti-spam software; GFI LANguard Network Security Scanner (N.S.S.) security scanning and patch management software; and GFI LANguard Security Event Log Monitor (S.E.L.M.) that performs event log based intrusion detection and network-wide event log management. Clients include Microsoft, Telstra, Time Warner Cable, Shell Oil Lubricants, NASA, DHL, Caterpillar, BMW, the US IRS, and the USAF. GFI has offices in the US, the UK, Germany, Cyprus, Romania, Australia and Malta, and operates though a worldwide network of distributors. GFI is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and has won the Microsoft Fusion (GEM) Packaged Application Partner of the Year award.

 

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

 

For more information: Angelica Micallef Trigona GFI Software Ltd

 

--

 

Malta Tel: +356 21382418 Fax: +356 21382419 angelica@gfi.com

 

Copyright © 1996-2003 Market Wire Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

I saw another article on how the mafia is getting involved in spam and viruses now.... We may see a decrease in spam but an increase in it's maliciousness....