How will Nostr be able to avoid the fate of email?

It started, like Nostr, as an open protocol. Anyone could set up SMTP servers, but most didn’t, opting instead for managed email services (you can imagine something similar happening with Nostr where people would opt for managed clients that offer better UX).

Over time the managed email services made up the majority of traffic, and in their fight to prevent spam, they took ever more heavy-handed approaches to filtering. Emails originating from untrusted non-managed SMTP services were deleted on receipt, never to be seen again. Try starting a new mail service today. It’s not possible. Email has become a walled garden, an oligopoly.

How do we build the right incentives into the operation of relays and clients such that spam, bots and all kinds of fowl play are dealt with in a way that doesn’t compromise on the open access and censorship-resistance of the protocol?

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