TMDA is an open source software application designed to significantly reduce the amount of spam (Internet junk-mail) you receive. TMDA strives to be more effective, yet less time-consuming than traditional spam filters. TMDA can also be used with a custom email address as a general purpose local mail delivery agent to filter, sort, deliver and dispose of incoming mail. The technical countermeasures used by TMDA to thwart spam include:
- whitelists: accept mail from known, trusted senders.
- blacklists: refuse mail from undesired senders.
- challenge/response:
allows unknown senders which aren't on the whitelist or blacklist the chance to confirm that their message
is legitimate (non-spam).
- tagged addresses: special-purpose e-mail addresses such as time-dependent addresses, or addresses which only accept certain kinds of communication. These increase the transparency of TMDA for unknown senders by allowing them to safely circumvent the challenge/response system.
- You cannot keep your email address secret from spammers.
- Content-based filters can't distinguish spam from legitimate mail with sufficient accuracy.
- To maintain economies of scale, bulk-mailing is generally:
- An impersonal process where the recipient is not distinguished.
- A one-way communication channel (from spammer to victim).
- An impersonal process where the recipient is not distinguished.
- spam will not cease until it becomes prohibitively expensive for spammers to operate.
NOTE: All documentation and further information about TMDA has been moved into the TmdaWiki!