kaled - 4:48 pm on May 23, 2007 (gmt 0)

Unless I've missed something, the fundamental weakness with the smtp email system is that it is a push technology rather than a pull technology.

If email messages were pulled of the originating server (in response to "come-and-get-me" requests) it would be impossible to fake the origin of the message because it would be collected directly from the originator (by IP address).

If email protocols are going to be radically reworked, surely it makes sense to fix the source of the problem rather than use crytographic bodges.

This would have the added advantage that the originator would know immediately when an email is read - thus eliminating the need for receipts. It would also allow genuine mailing lists to remove users that no longer read their mails.

Kaled.