Subject: [Asrg] Smart e-mail

From: Alberto França <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 18:17:15 -0300

Maybe the next generation e-mail system should evolve to become "active" 
rather than "passive" as it is today. By "active", meaning a _smart 
agent_ running at the senders machine, would be called to clear the 
message BEFORE it is allowed to travel. The message once cleared, would 
be sent by this _smart agent_ to the addressee mailbox. At the receiving 
side, the _smart agent_ upon recognizing itself, will accept the 
message. Anything else is ignored.

How would this work?

By first transforming "[email-masked]" in a _program_ (not an address) 
which has the following features:
 1- it contains the actual mailbox address of "someone";
 2- it carries with it, a decision tree on how e-mails should be handled;
 3- it only accepts messages from himself.

E-mails to "someone" will be cleared to be sent, only if the following 
conditions are met:
  1 - the sender is known and the content is ok;
  2 - the sender is unknown, but agrees to pay in advance, say 50 cents, 
for each message which is checked as ok;

So, how under the new system, one can send a message to "someone"?

a- the sender machine will need to load from the net (one time) the 
"[email-masked]" program;
b- the program will ask questions 1 and 2 above and if cleared;
c- program contact itself at the receiving side and inform a message is 
on its way. 

Point to remember: only the _program_ knows the actual mailbox address 
of "someone" and he only receives messages from himself.
 
When creating "someone" account, XYZ Corp will ask a few questions on 
how e-mail should be handled and this will be incorporated and protected 
inside the program. The default template would be for "someone" to 
receive e-mail from anyone without requiring payment, as it is today.

As soon as "someone" by using a default template gets upset with 
joe_spammer, he/she modifies his template to only accept e-mail from 
this guy, if he pays in advance 50 cents per message and violá, no more 
e-mail from joe_spammer. Or maybe, if joe_spammer accepts it, money will 
be raining in "someone" mailbox.

So, with this new system:

1- a basic template is created and can be easily modified to 
include/exclude people you want to receive e-mail from or don´t want to 
receive;
2- you don´t need to hide your e-mail. Sending e-mail directly to 
"[email-masked]" goes nowhere;
3- you control things from your seat - no more garbage thrown your way - 
unless you want to.

As such, when "someone" sees his inbox full of e-mail, he/she will not 
be mad. Actually, it could mean cash waiting to be spent!

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