[lug] linux firewall, popup windows spam blocking

[Bear Giles]

Scott Herod wrote:
> I saw one proposal that would be someone difficult to implement since it 
> would require infrastructure improvements but which would not require any 
> legislation.

In terms of email spam, there is a fast-tracked proposal that 
should largely eliminate this spam once it's implemented.  DNS 
will be extended to include "reverse MX" records - the idea is 
that if I get mail from "example.com" I can hit the DNS servers to 
get a list of IP addresses authorized to send mail from that domain.

You wouldn't necessarily reject this mail immediately, maybe the 
DNS records have been updated but the change hasn't propogated 
yet.  But even a 5xx error would keep the messages out of the mail 
queue.

By itself, this wouldn't eliminate spam.  But it would remove a 
huge chunk of it, and change the characteristics of the spam that 
is received.  Companies with compromised systems would not be able 
to hid behind the "somebody is impersonating me" defense.

> If you want to send me email, attach 1/100'th of a cent.  I'll gladly pay
> you the same to accept email that I send.

That's too micro.  I've heard numbers around 5 to 10 cents, 
configurable by the recipient.  For personal accounts limited to 
close friends and families to tariff could be as high as a buck.