Squelch discussions of the "spam problem"

Several lists I'm on are beating the spam problem once again. What to do
about it, whether government should step in, and so on.

Look, folks, I guarantee that the more everyone talks about the "spam
problem," even if most of us don't think it's a pressing problem, the more
likely it is that spam legislation will be introduced. And that won't be
good, whatever one thinks of spam.

Congress operates by catering to special interests and popular calls for
"action." Doesn't matter to them what action they take, so long as they can
hold up their "Digital Protectin and Children's Safe Surfing Act of 1998"
legislation.

The more jostling and chatter that goes on, the more likely Congressional
aides will start drawing up legislative language.

So, even if you think spam is a serious problem, I urge you to suppress the
desire to throw your two cents in on what kind of a horrible thing it is,
how its corrupting the nation's precious bodily fluids, and how *something*
must be done!

I guarantee you won't like the results you get, no matter your views on spam.

--Tim May

Just Say No to "Big Brother Inside"
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES:   408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^3,021,377   | black markets, collapse of governments.

I strongly disagree with TCM about not talking about spam.

I have commented on the list many times about the very
difficult problem of spam and how its not something that
ought to be ignored. it *was* ignored many years ago
and is continuing to get worse. it will *continue* to
get worse until some good solutions are found.

however, I agree with TCM in that I despise a legislative
solution and think that it would be a very bad idea, and
lead to new odious bureacracies.

I do believe that the spam problem can be solved with
a technical solution, and I urge cypherpunks as a group 
(oops, that's taboo and an oxymoron) to attack it technically.
that is part of the problem-- imho it requires a cooperative
& collaborative solution, which tends to defy the loner and individualistic
mentality that permeates cyberspace. 

why can't cryptographic ingenuity be applied to this problem?
in many ways it is similar to problems of "denial of service"
that keep repeating all over cyberspace because it is a 
very difficult problem to solve.

I suspect reputation systems might be extremely useful in attacking the
problem, and supposedly this is a cpunk area.

I'm going to try to write up an essay soon on spam prevention based
on some of the ideas I have bouncing around in my brain.