jon udell on email whitelists: If we rule out spontaneous association then we will not have defeated the spammers. They will have defeated us.
whitelists are obviously not an ideal solution, as they create a minor difficulty where before there was none. but placing this difficulty within the email sending process means it won't change the difficulty of the email system for everyone -- only for those who want it changed. if we must create difficulty, it should at least be optional. tom phrases what i believe is the same idea this way: That is probably the best place to resolve this debate - in net citizens' interactions with, choices between (and accomplishments enabled by) various types of community software.
i'm begining to think maybe i don't really disagree with tom at all. i'm just saying "that's not good enough" because i know there are better solutions possible, and he's saying "it's better than nothing" because it is, and in many cases nothing seems to be the primary alternative. however, i continue to worry about the (im)possibility of removing difficulty after it has been created. i don't share tom's faith that there will probably not soon be a monopoly on community technology that stops people simply choosing another form of software
.