Just two examples: Imagine if I could set a preference in my email client that said "I do not accept anonymous emails". No more junk mail. And, secondly, that if I did get a spoofed communication that caused some sort of harm, I could in some way track down the spoofer. These would be big improvements to life on the internet.
Right, but there's a very big difference between "I'd prefer if my system dropped all unauthenticated incoming messages", and what I thought OP might have meant "nobody should be able to communicate without their state-issued ID attached".
Most spam (received by servers I manage, at least) aren't spoofed nowadays. They come from mail accounts that have been compromised and hijacked to send out spam.
Yeah, identity doesn't count for much when its easily lost. Look at all the issues we have today with identity theft. Attaching identities to more things would make it worse, perhaps to the point where its meaningless
