Reviving the Finger Protocol to Fight Spam?

Posted by Cliff on Sunday May 25, 2003 @07:55AM from the return-of-an-old-friend dept.

Greg asks: "Some will remember the finger protocol which is barely used now. Although this tool was useful in some case, today this tool would be a nice tool for spammers. However, could such be used against spam? Most spammer use bogus email, and most spam-fighters talk about changing SMTP is to implement a certificate system to make sure the sender is valid. While this is great, it'll require a complete re-write of the SMTP protocol, adoption and re-write of all software using SMTP. Wouldn't it be easier to use a 'finger'-like protocol? When receiving a mail we could check if the sender is valid or not. What people think about this?"

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Not an uncommon sight by Wrexen · 2003-05-25 08:38 · Score: 5, Funny

Anyone noticed a trend in "Ask /." lately? Usually looks something like this

Dear Slashdot,

I have a great idea for fixing a problem that's been plagueing us all. By simultaenously implementing IPv6 world-wide, converting the US to metric, adding mass transit to rural areas, teaching everyone Esperanto, and making Linux ready for even the most stubborn grandmother, all the worlds problems will be solved. There's just this problem of implementation, i.e., how do I do it? I'm sure some clever /. can come up with a solution. Thanks!