BitMaelum

BitMaelum is a project that takes on classic email and its infrastructure. Instead of trying to fit current email standards in today's complex world, we literally leave everything behind and started from scratch.

We want to create a new mailing system that deals with the following issues found in today's email architecture:

• Privacy first.
  All emails are encrypted end to end. Nobody, including your mail provider or any third party can read your mail or metadata.
• Communicate safely.
  Your messages cannot be tampered with by thirrd parties. We also guarantee that the sender is the real sender of the message.
• Own your own data.
  Pickup your data and move to another provider without losing your mail address.
• In control of mailing lists.
  You and only you can subscribe or unsubscribe to mailing lists. Unsubscribe really means unsubscribe again.
• Combatting / eliminating spam.
  Sending unsollicited mail becomes an expensive operating, making spam expensive.

Starting from scratch

We believe that the current email system is too broken. It consists of many patches, additions and layers to make it remotely feasible to work with in a secure way and still fails massively. Because of all the configuration that is needed to setup a server securely, setting up your own mail server is a complex task.

Running your own BitMaelum server should be as simple as running a simple application with a default configuration setting. And even if most users will not use their own mail servers, creating an account on a server should be easy as well without worrying about all kinds of configuration settings and parameters.

Standing on the shoulders of giants

Instead of inventing the basics from scratch, we try to use existing and proven technologies.

• JSON API over HTTP
  This provides basic security against snooping and man-in-the-middle attacks. The JSON API allows for third parties to simply talk with a BitMaelum server without learning or implementing new protocols.
• Proof-of-work for sending mail
  Sending mail will cost time. Though not noticable for small amounts of mail, it will add up when sending large amounts of mail. By supplying (mathematical) proof that a server has completed work, we can make users "pay" for sending mail.
• Mobile friendly
  BitMaelum can provide different content to different systems. So your (mailing) message can be specifically tailored for a phone, tablet and desktop without stuffing everything inside a single message while hoping for the best. This also means that mobile users do not have to download tablet or desktop versions of your message.
• Using higher level language and development tooling
  Most, if not all, mailing systems are writting in low-level C language which is hard to get right security wise. With the help of new languages like Go, we can provide a better security and equal or better speed as the C equivalents.

Questions

Is BitMaelum ready for production?

No. BitMaelum is still in it's early development stage. But you can create your own BitMaelum account and send/receive BitMaelum mail.

Can I register myname! or myname@organisation! ?

You can! We have a (free) BitMaelum server where you can register your address. Of course, you can also set up your own BitMaelum server and use it on the network. Note that some addresses are "reserved".

Can I use my existing mail client with BitMaelum?

It actually is possible to use your current mail client for reading and writing BitMaelum mail. However, since BitMaelum is a completely incompatible different system, there are some things that will and will not work. With the help of our bm-bridge, a local smtp/imap service that will convert bitmaelum message to regular email messages, you can use your own mail client. This system is useful for now, but we expect to have other mail clients capable of handling bitmaelum mail in the future.

Do you make money on this?

No. BitMaelum is developed as an open source system which you can adapt any way you like. The source is available under the MIT license. If you don't want to host your own mail server, you can pay for a hosted option.

Does BitMaelum eradicate spam?

We think that BitMaelum provides a simple way to combat spam straight at the root of the problem: sending out massive amounts of mail becomes an expensive operation, rendering spam useless as it relies on sending of huge volumes.

Can I send mail to regular email addresses via BitMaelum?

BitMealum is encrypted end-to-end. This means only the sender and recipient can read the actual mail. With the help of the bm-bridge, messages are locally converted from bitmaelum to regular email. This same bridge allows you to read to regular email accounts, or send messages to a bitmaelum account throug regular email. Note that these messages are not secure in any way since they will leave the bitmaelum network.