Tue, 02 Sep 2003 12:18:46 GMT

Back to Plain Text for Multi-recipient Email?

I think that one solution to spam would be to revert to plain text as the standard email format.  No HTML, no attachments.  Spam filters would be much harder to fool in such a world, and of course plain text email will not have viruses and worms in it.

People who want to send pictures, or fancy-looking documents, or spreadsheets would have to use a different protocol.  But that protocol would not have a “cc” function.  To get a picture or a spreadsheet to a large list, you would have to direct them to a web page.

So, my spam solution is this:  reconfigure email servers so that a sender can either send email that includes attachments or send email to multiple recipients, but not both.  If you want to send email to multiple recipients, you must use only plain text, with no attachments.  If you want to send email to just one recipient, then use HTML and attachments to your heart's content.  If you want to send HTML and attachments to a lot of people, set up a web page, and use the email to point to the web page.  Or use some other protocol.

Would that work?  See Frankston.  See also Gillmor.  See also Mayfield.

[Corante: Bottom Line]

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no, all email should be plain text without atttachment, adding attachments opens the door to one to one virus transfer. join the campaign for ascii email,