Email peering

Mon Jun 20 10:54:50 UTC 2005

> I am not sure any level of security would make me feel good about 
passing 
> my emails through a 'peering .. core' of SMTP relays.
> 
> However, if we do go in this direction, I plan on firing up my old 
copies 
> of BinkleyTerm. FIDO and NetMail may be a good place to start :)

Back in the day, there were users of Fido technology networks
who were concerned with email privacy. They applied a technology
called PGP to secure the contents of their messages. 

Interestingly enough, even though the open Internet email
system doesn't normally relay email through other people's
servers, many people still use PGP and its descendants to
secure their email content. Could it be that some people
don't trust routers to deliver their port 25 packets to
the destination without diverting a copy to prying eyes?
Surely people would never configure route maps to do
such a thing?

And let's not even begin to discuss the ways in which
widespread use of crypto technology in email systems could
allow for things like non-repudiable signatures.

And let's not even look at a widespread email alternative
that is in use on the Internet today and which is slowly
gathering features that make it look more and more like
email version two. Imagine what will happen when IM networks
take the same step that email networks took in the early
90's and allow for general interconnection.

--Michael Dillon