Re: Emacs 21.2, smtpmail and vm

[Simon Josefsson <jas@extundo.com>]

"Stefan Monnier <foo@acm.com>" <monnier+gnu.emacs.help/news/@flint.cs.yale.edu> writes:

>> but there are practical problems: You cannot easily abuse a DNS server
>> as a client, but you can very easily abuse a SMTP server as a client
>> (spam).  Just because people with their laptops get their IP from an
>> ISP doesn't mean that the ISP know whom that person is, or know how to
>> sue her when she sends spam through their network.  If people route
>> their stuff via their home, it is not the ISPs problem any more.
>
> To get an IP number from an ISP, you already need some kind of
> authentication, as far as I can see.  There are plenty of nasty things you
> can do with an access to the internet other than spam (think SQL worm) and
> they should be able to trace that back to you as well.

True, but many ISP business cases are based on not having to identify
the individual user (e.g. public access Internet in various restricted
areas), so they try to get away with what they can.  People are aware
of how spam works, so by easing spamming they kill their own business.
Of course, anyone in the know can spam or inject SQL worms anyway, so
SMTP authentication will not prevent spam perfectly, nor would
requiring identity cards of everyone using the Internet everywhere
solve the SQL worm problem.

But maybe we are drifting off-topic...