Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

["Michael D. Thomas" <mdthomas AT mindspring.com>]

> This idea
> has merit.  I think there is a growing swell of resentment -- from Usenet
> to Business Week -- againstspam everywhere lately.  Perhaps we
Internetworkers can take the vanguard
> in actually doingsomething about it.

This dovetails nicely with the upcoming Internetworkers Survey 2002. The
survey can be used to gauge which opinions are the most popular and which are
only the loudest. In this context, it could be used to determine opinions on
the proposed distributed anti-spam tool: would people use it or is the idea
largely viewed as disturbing and disgusting?

The 1999 survey we did was a 1xN survey -- a couple of us decided on what the
questions should be. I've architected the survey system for this year's survey
so that, instead of a single person or small group asking all the questions,
anyone can submit questions. I.e., instead of being a 1xN survey it is a NxN
survey.

I'm hoping that this will yield a new kind of community interaction. For
instance, if you have a project that you've been thinking about, why not ask a
question of the community that pertains to it? Now, the survey results are
going to be completely anonymous -- if, say, a few dozen people express
interest in your project, you won't have any way to identify those people.
However, you will know that there is interest, and that's something. Survey
takers will also be able to add comments to any question.

Anyway, the Functional Specification is done and the first major module is
complete. As this is a side project for me, I won't commit to dates, but I'm
targeting late summer as survey season.

Those interested in seeing the FuncSpec should email me.

....And... I guess I've avoided the subject long enough.... I reviewed Sun
Tzu's _Art of War_ this evening and once again came to the realization that
war isn't so great. Further, I determined that even the rhetoric of war is
dangerous. True warring forces you to work in the darkness, not in the light.
In the words of Sun Tzu: "War is the art of deception". And, "When you
mobilize the army and form strategic plans you must be unfathomable." And,
"When it rains upstream, foam appears in the river. If you want to cross over,
wait until it settles."

Okay, the last one wasn't applicable. One of my favorites, though. :-)

This said, the concept of a distributed anti-spam system is a *great* thought
exercise, and I believe that the concept could change the debate over spam,
esp. if a functional specification and technical specification are developed
of a *legal* system that not only distributes processing but also distributes
the decisions as to what is spam.

And since I have Sun Tzu open, one last quote:

"Thus it is said that one who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be
endangered in a hundred engagements. One who does not know the enemy but knows
himself will sometimes be victorious, sometimes meet with defeat. One who
knows neither the enemy nor himself will invariably be defeated in every
engagement."

Peace.