Email needs to be FUNDAMENTALLY changed. The way that it works right now, there is no kind of "sender verification" to determine that the person who SENT the email is really the person listed on the email.

For example, I could sign my emails "[email protected]" and they would look like they're coming from Bill Gates. Email was initially designed as a trusted medium between college geeks... it was never intended to handle as much volume as it does today.

There needs to be a complete and fundamental re-write of the email protocols, including some kind of sender verification... so you can't "spoof" someone else's identity. There have been several proposals, but few implementations - and certainly none of them have been adopted in wide use.

We have the technology to beat spammers. It's just that nobody wants to move forward with it. Plus, if people would just STOP BUYING CRAP from spammers, the spam would eventually go away! If you can send out 30 million pieces of spam and get 1 or 2 sales, you're STILL making money, since sending 30 million emails costs you close to nothing. If EVERYONE would stop buying from spammers, they would eventually give up and go away.

Ugh.