Yes, that's right. I have an email box that now receives less than 1 spam every week or so. I used to have over 200 per day.

The same goes for my wife. No, we do not have to *pay* for email or require those sending to us to pay a fee. We do not use bay filtering, or fuzzy logic mechanisms. We do not use exotic new protocols, just plain old SMTP and POP mail.

It is called Challenge/Response my friends, and there are many products out there that can plug right into your email proggie and rid you forever of the deluge of spam.

Basically, you have a trusted sender list, from which emails are always accepted. When an email comes in from an untrusted sender, an email is sent to them asking them to verify that they are a real person (challenge). In my case, a reply (response) to the challenge email must be sent back to me.

Until I receive the response, the spam blocker software bins the emails from that recipient, and after a configurable amount of time, discards the messages.

Wait, the detractors scream, if everyone used such a system, the additional overhead of all that challenge response mail would be enormous!

Yes, and no. Yes, initially there'd be a spike. No, it would not persist for a few reasons:

1) Spammers cannot make money sending out millions of emails that all get blocked or returned.

2) Spammers often use zombie networks of PCs or comprimised open relays to send their crap. It is highly more likely that with a deluge of response email that unknowing admins might actually realize their servers are being comprimised.

Any way you slice it, this system works. I have so little spam as to make what does make it through insignificant. Spam is no longer even remotely a problem for me, and it does not need to be one for you either.

My wife uses ChoiceMail and I use Qurb, if you're interested.

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