RSS, Spam and Spyware II

A few months ago I wrote about the threat that RSS, spam and spyware pose to RSS, and stated my concern that this threat was being ignored by much of the RSS community. So I'm glad to see that more people are talking about this problem:

• David Sifry: Spam and Fake Blogs
• Om Malik: RSS Spam Cometh?
• Brian Livingston: Podcasts can infect your PC
• Robert Scoble: The Real Spam Problem

Of course, it's sad that we're even at a point where spam can affect RSS. Given past history with email, why didn't more of us (myself included) think about spam right from the start? We're often so excited by the promise of new technology that we neglect to consider what will happen if it actually goes mainstream (popularity brings out the spammers). Case in point: how many services that offer tagging are taking steps to make it less spammable?

Comments

[Holland Smith]

Hi Nick,

Recently a venture capitalist friend (who worked for the Menlo Park Xerox team in the 60's and helped put the first network in the White House, and literaly knows everyone in the IT world) convinced me to start my own consulting company when what I want to do is what you've done. Create something that I believe in, except I'm having problems conceptualizing what it is that I beleive in.

Steve