Bill Gates: spam gone by 2006

[TheEnforcer]

http://news.independent.co.uk/digita...p?story=484520

Gates plans an end to spam in two years
By Paul Geitner in Davos
25 January 2004


A spam-free world by 2006? That's what Microsoft chairman Bill Gates is promising.

"Two years from now, spam will be solved," he told a select group of World Economic Forum participants in Davis, Switzerland. Gates said his company is working on a "magic solution" based on the concept of "proof" - identifying the sender of the e-mail.

One method involves requiring the sender to solve a puzzle that only a flesh-and-blood person can handle. Another is a "computational puzzle" that a computer sending only a few messages could easily handle, but that would be prohibitively expensive for a mass-mailer.

But the most promising, Gates said, was a method that would hit the sender of an e-mail in the pocket. People would set a level of monetary risk - low or high, depending on their own choice - for receiving e-mail from strangers.

If the e-mail turned out to be from a long-lost relative, for example, the recipient would charge nothing. But if it is unwanted spam, the sender would have to fork out the cash. "In the long run, the monetary [method] will be dominant," Gates predicted.

He conceded, however, that his prognostications have not always been on the mark. He misjudged the rising popularity of open-source software, epitomised by Linux, and the success of the Google search engine.

* Gates is to be awarded an honorary knighthood for "services to global enterprise". It is believed the recommendation was made by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown.
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What do you think his chances of success are? Personally, as with practically all Microsoft products, there will be a huge exploit in it and it won't work but you never know he might get a bug-free version going for once. Even one with bugs might cut spam down significantly.

[Dirty F]

STOP THE NEWS THREADS!

Arghhh

People do a search before you post "breaking news"

[Manowar]

posted about 5 times before. Charging people to spam will just mean the wealthy spammers will send more

[Ben-MensNiche]

Humorous that the 3 options are all laughable:

Billing the sender for spam? wtf? How are they going to do that? You'll have to have a credit card to send email now? Fuck that!

You've gotta solve a puzzle every time you want to send email? Yeah, fuck that too.

A computational puzzle that will take a computer too long for a mass-mailer - exploit city right there. It will take all of a couple of months before some some 19 yearl old computer whizz cracks a way to generate seemingly authenticated emails that were never authenticated.

Bill, I'll give it to you, you've had some awesome ideas over the last 20 years, but shutting down spam is going to take more work than you think pal.

What about legitimate mass mailing i.e. to an affiliate or member group? Wouldn't these things make those prohibitively expensive too.

[CAHEK]

u cannot stop spam

[TheEnforcer]

I have no doubt he'll release something and that it won't be nearly as effective as he says it will.

[Rinaldo]

Bill Bill Bill... come on buddy... You began hotmail so that we could spam and you could push MSN by promising no spam ... and now you're taking it all away... mang... we helped you make millions upon millions... don't get stupid or we'll track your email and spam your ass too

[webair]

hmm wonder what he has up his sleeve thats a pretty bold statement

[Head]

I'll believe it when i see it!

[kmanrox]

he's high

[radical]

Spam and chips taste good

[DeanCapture]

I say bring that shit on!

Spammers suck!