Okay, I’ll assume you’re right, which considerably worsens the case for RCS:
Google could have given us device-signed messaging with RCS, so that users and carriers could block devices for spamming regardless of the source address.
Google didn’t. They had the power to do so in RCS using their own APIs, and yet they chose not to offer an effective protection.
How is this failure by Google a selling point for RCS? Why would anyone consider RCS at all without device attestation? We don’t need yet another abuse-laden, unidentifiable-source chat protocol. We need a material improvement in quality of life for users, not a veneer of fancy bells and whistles on top of the same plague of spam as today.
Maybe your hypothesis that device attestation is the answer to spam is just… wrong?
Maybe Google doesn't think you need device attestation to manage spam on a messaging platform. There are numerous examples of apps today that don’t suffer from spam and don’t use device attestation. And there are examples of spam on iMessage.
Furthermore, I can already receive messages on my iPhone from non-iMessage users so I don’t even understand how any of what you’re saying makes sense in the first place. RCS is a protocol (not a platform) that would make the experience of receiving those messages better. It does not add some new attack vector for spammers.
Have you tried using a device with an RCS messenger app and been plagued with spam more-so than on iPhone? I switch between devices all the time and have not noticed any difference.
It’s not about spam. It’s about Apple playing lazy/dirty. Hence the OP.
Google could have given us device-signed messaging with RCS, so that users and carriers could block devices for spamming regardless of the source address.
Google didn’t. They had the power to do so in RCS using their own APIs, and yet they chose not to offer an effective protection.
How is this failure by Google a selling point for RCS? Why would anyone consider RCS at all without device attestation? We don’t need yet another abuse-laden, unidentifiable-source chat protocol. We need a material improvement in quality of life for users, not a veneer of fancy bells and whistles on top of the same plague of spam as today.