[peppermint_tea]

The problem comes from the giants using close source algorithms for mail filtering... yes, they are very efficient at filtering spam, but you have no way to align on their close source filtering process to make sure your email goes through/not marked as spam. Ironically, I once in a while receive a spam from a gmail account, and it is not marked as spam.

I would also add we are the problem, we picked the giants because they are free and convenient. By doing so, we gave them way too much power over the email ecosystem and they can start making their own rules.

The only way forward in my opinion is moving out of these allegedly free services and making the internet user centric again by de-centralizing.

[miohtama]

> The problem comes from the giants using close source algorithms for mail filtering

The root cause is that email is an open messaging network without moderation and sending cost. Other open network is SMS, but because of the sending cost the spam problem is much smaller, albeit still exists.

[Teever]

I'm not much into the whole cryptocurrency hoopla but I've always thought that a digital currency would be the solution to email spam.

$.25 fee to send an email and receiver gets the entire fee (or the bulk of it, after what pays for the network)

Send more emails than you receive? Send a little bit of emails but get a few replies? It's break even.

[dllthomas]

Not a new idea, and one I've been mildly enamored of at various points. At this point I'm somewhat ambivalent, but I think the standard responses are (depending on details of the plan):

        (X) Mailing lists and other legitimate email uses would be affected
        (X) Users of email will not put up with it

    Specifically, your plan fails to account for
        (X) Laws expressly prohibiting it
        (X) Lack of centrally controlling authority for email
        (X) Jurisdictional problems
        (X) Public reluctance to accept weird new forms of money
        (X) Extreme profitability of spam
        (X) Armies of worm riddled broadband-connected Windows boxes
        (X) Dishonesty on the part of spammers themselves
        

    and the following philosophical objections may also apply:
        (X) Sending email should be free
        (X) Killing them that way is not slow and painful enough

https://craphound.com/spamsolutions.txt

As mentioned, I don't know if I've really been convinced it can't work, though I'm also not convinced it would (or should, maybe?).

Certainly it doesn't work at all unless transaction costs can be negligible.

[peppermint_tea]

good point