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AMTP as an Alternative to SMTP
SamMichaels writes "AMTP was published as an Internet Draft last week. It suggests using a 'Mail Policy Code' during the transaction to identify what kind of mail is being sent (administrative, personal, commercial, etc). Another plus is the use of TLS using x.509 certificates signed by a CA so you know exactly where the mail came from. Sounds like a solid plan...now to get a certificate signed for a decent price is the challenge."
It is a nice technological way to force spammers into illegal activity however. It is hard to outlaw spam, systematic cracking of peoples computers already is illegal however. Since the certificates will be withdrawn within the hour of the machine starting to spew spams it also requires very large-scale cracking. Also it is a bit hard to be anonymous, for one the crack will be revealed very quickly since you are mailing around so much, also you kinda have to give correct contact information in the spam for it to be worth anything :)