TMDA (http://tmda.net) CGI Interface

Welcome to TMDA!

TMDA (tagged message delivery agent) is the free answer to your spam woes. Unlike other filters that look for keywords such as "viagra", "sweepstakes", and "lesbians"; TMDA uses a simple, but highly reliable method for determining which e-mails come from real people... it asks them!

TMDA asks people if they are real?

Yes, it is called a "challenge/response method". When someone sends mail to a TMDA guarded e-mail address for the first time, instead of just blindly dumping the message in your in-box, TMDA puts it in a special quarantine area and sends a "challenge" back to the author. The challenge is just an e-mail that briefly explains the system and asks the user to reply to the challenge (this is the "response" part). Once TMDA receives the response, it releases the original message from quarantine and adds the sender to a list of people from which it will accept mail. Any future messages from that user will be accepted without another challenge.

How does that help?

Spammers typically put fake e-mail addresses on their spam. They don't want you to reply to them. The address they use is bad, so they never receive TMDA's challenge, they never get to respond, the message is never released from quarantine, and it never makes it to your in-box. Instead, it sits around and gathers dust until the system throws it away.

Great! How do I get it!

"Getting it" is easy, simply click the link at the end of this page to install the system. But before you do, please take a few minutes and look over the following FAQs (frequently asked questions). TMDA is a radically different way to handle your mail, so it is best to understand some of the finer details before you proceed.

FAQs:

Is it really free?
Won't this challenge/response thing annoy people who send me mail?
Can I look at the messages in quarantine to make sure I'm not missing something important?
What about my mailing list and joke of the day? How will that get past TMDA?
What about people I send mail to, do they get challenged as well?
What if I change my mind? Can I get rid of TMDA easily?

Yes, sign me up! No, log me out.