But registrars can't be expected to filter prospective registrants
> to remove potential, or even actual, spammers.
It would be more accurate to say that registrars aren't willing to filter actual spammers since that would cost money and they're more interested in short term revenue than the long term good of the Internet.
For years I've been saying that the Internet biz needs a credit bureau so that when people try to sing up, it's possible to find out if they've been booted off before for nonpayment, misbehavior, and other problems. Everyone says it's a great idea, but so far not great enough to do it.
R's,
John
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I wonder if anyone has considered a class action suit (netters versus registrars) on the theory that if the registrars had not given safe harbor to those cretins they would have had no way to spam the world. I think the idea of a 'credit bureau' approach is a good one. Every person or company which applies for an IP address or name space in a domain has to have their request put up for public discussion/approval. You want to register an IP address, and find a registrar willing to accept you, then regardless of which registrar you wish to use, your application is made public to the net, such as requesting an FCC license. After some period of time -- let's say 60 days -- if there are no serious complaints about you, your 'license' (or IP address or name space) is granted. PAT]