Key Issues
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Spam is a multifaceted phenomenon and therefore very complicated to address. This phenomenon is probably one of the bigger challenges the Internet will have to face in the immediate future. It requires the implementation of a series of actions on different levels: tailoring and implementing effectively anti-spam laws, raising awareness and educating, leading dynamic international cooperation and the developing adequate technical solutions.
Today, various sophisticated technical measures are available; each one can play a role in the battle against spam. At the same time, more and more national governments, encouraged by the international community, are progressively adopting specific anti-spam legislation. When combined, all of these measures should provide a good solution to the spam problem for email users.
However, statistics show that the amount of unwanted email is far from decreasing. Additionally, the trans-boarder characteristic of the majority of spam complicates legal action. This raises crucial questions: Are the most adequate technical measures being implemented? And more generally, is the spam issue addressed properly?
Efforts must be pursued on all fronts to win the battle against spam: technical, legal and educational. On the technical front, authentication tools show promises: wouldn’t it be efficient to allow only “authorized” senders to send messages? In a comprehensive article, Challenges in Anti-Spam efforts (PDF: 162KB), Dave Crocker explores this specific question.
In the second article, John Klensin argues that curbing the growth of spam will only be made possible by Taking another Look at the Spam Problem (PDF: 26KB). His article advocates that the essential difficulty is methodological: the usual method of identifying technological solutions and then letting policymakers work out the details of how to utilize them is counterproductive. Thus, proposing a new approach to the problem of spam, John Klensin also offers a new perspective on how to tackle the problem.
Spam Papers
Challenges in Anti-Spam Efforts (PDF: 162KB)
By Dave Crocker, Brandenburg InternetWorking
Taking Another Look at the Spam Problem (PDF: 26KB)
By John C. Klensin
