>> I assume that a message with an image from someone I
>> don't know is likely spam and bounce it with an appropriate error.
> People who "bounce" messages only make the volume of traffic higher
> and contribute to the spam problem by sending their "helpful"
> bounces back to the forged sender address where the bounce is just
> more spam for the person who never actually sent the message.
No, a delivery error message is not spam. And it is not sent "to the forged sender address" or for that matter sent "to" any address at all.
The universe would be a much nicer place if all bounces stopped
> happening :-).
No, it would not. Lack of an indication that mail has failed to be delivered makes the system far less useful for anything other than spam.
snipped-for-privacy@panix.com (Danny Burste> >> Interesting. I assume that a message with an image from someone I
>> don't know is likely spam and bounce it with an appropriate error.
> Unless you're doing this at the initial SMTP server contact, please > stop.
Of course I'm doing it at the initial SMTP server contact. I'm lucky enough to be able to do that because I have my own server. Many are not so fortunate, though, and I would not quickly deny them their bounces.
If you're making the bounces based on the reply-to or return or
> "from" addresses, those are quite likely forged, and all a bounce to
> them is doing is making things worse.
Oh, good, then SPF is the solution. (ducks)
Dan Lanciani