Wave of the Future (Spam)

Steve Robertson wrote: I know I'm replying to the wrong message, but can't find the original. Fix Federal law, like they did to stop bulk FAXes. Being able to identify the spammer is indeed 90% of the battle. People tend to be far less obnoxious when you know where they live, even if only in cyberspace. Impose a stiff fine, with teeth, for any spam mailer found to be using a bogus return address, and a greatly enhanced fine for using a valid address that is not theirs, and allow the legitimate holder of the address the right to sue for damages if they get hate mail. Require that a human being, not an autoresponder, be reachable at the UCE mail's return address, and spot check to make sure they're reading and responding periodically. Bounced messages could be forwarded directly to some department of the FTC or Justice Department to track down the origin. It would be a huge job, but at least for US-based spammers, it might deter truly obnoxious behavior. (Most ISPs would (80?)86 a client with huge mailboxes overflowing with complaints.) To work, I guess it would have to be a net revenue generator. It probably wouldn't work but maybe it would silence or reform the worst offenders. Just some idle thoughts. I'm sure holes will be shot through starting immediately. :-)