In my previous post, I highlighted how authentication is moving forward, and talked about recent changes at Gmail and their utilization of authentication technologies.

Reader Nancy left a very insightful comment. She writes: “This is kind of a step backwards in technology to me...... Pretty soon we will only be able to get email from people we know and will have to go back to the Post Office to communicate otherwise..... I would rather check my spam folder than restrict who can send mail to me at all. For example, if the rules get too restrictive, there is no sense putting email addresses on business cards or resumes. Better idea...why not prosecute spammers to make spamming less desirable.”

It got me thinking….will it restrict “regular joes” from sending mail?

I think it will, in some edge cases. But I also think those edge cases are pretty rare, and pretty geek-specific. Me, with my home Linux box? Perhaps it will take some skill on my part, to continue to be able to successfully send mail. I’ll have to learn how to add an authentication module for Postfix. I’ll have to master setting up keys and selectors.

But, I think, for the average user, I don’t think there's really going to be any negative impact. Nancy, who is using a Gmail account, shouldn’t have to change anything. Gmail is authenticating her mail for her. Other ISPs, if not doing so already, will eventually do the same.

Nancy should still be able to mail me, even if she doesn’t know me. And there’s the potential for her email messages to be more likely to reach me. Spam filters are pretty aggressive nowadays. They have to guess and try to figure out, without help, if an email message from Yahoo or Gmail really came from Yahoo or Gmail. But, with authentication, my spam filter will have more, better data to help tell that make that determination. I think it’s logical to assume that it will help let more of the good mail through, from folks like Nancy.

Now, as far as prosecuting spammers? I’m all for it. They waste my time, your time, everybody’s time. They steal resources; they ignore permission, bounces, and best practices. But, I’m not going to wait for the government to take the lead here. (I think I’ll be waiting a long time.) Instead, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure I’m not a spammer, our clients don’t send spam, and that we utilize technologies like email authentication to ensure that our client’s non-spam mail is easy to discern from spam.