[thelist] Spam Cop??

Jason Handby jasonh at pavilion.co.uk
Thu Feb 13 08:50:01 CST 2003


Hi Pete,


> Anyone here have any experience with these guys? (spamcop.net) I
> just got a
> "second notice" from them. They say they have gotten complaints
> on me and if
> they get another one they will "block my network." They give no specific
> information about the "complaints" but say it could be "open mail ports,
> violations of our acceptable use policy, and other various
> complaints. Email
> us for more information."
>
> The last time I got one of these, I did email them -- three times -- and
> never received a response.

Do the following links help?

  What do do if falsely accused:
  http://spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/167.html

  How to contact a person at spamcop:
  http://spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/91.html


> So who are these guys? Who elected them the cops of the Internet? And what
> do they mean when they say they will "block my network?" Can they do that?
> And why the heck should I be concerned about *their* acceptable
> use policy?

They aren't the cops of the Internet or anything sinister like that. Spamcop
provide a simple web interface that allows users to report any spam that
they receive -- the spamcop engine then contacts the administrators of the
sites that the email was sent through (maintainers of open relays, formmail
scripts, dialup accounts, etc) to report that their facilities are being
used to send spam.

It's fantastically useful for end-users because it enables them to report
spam to the people who are actually responsible for sending it, without
having to be expert decipherers of spoofed mail headers and IP addresses.

Spamcop's reporting is directly driven by users complaining about spam that
they've received. If you're accused of spamming, spamcop will report you to
your service provider (e.g. ISP or co-locator) who may decide to take action
if your alleged behaviour is against their terms of service. Spamcop can't
block your network, but they maintain a "blocking list" of networks that
seem to be responsible for sending a large amount of unsolicited commercial
email; this list can then be used by ISP's mail servers to automatically
block incoming mail from those listed networks. It's the ISPs who are
blocking incoming mail to their networks (as is their right) -- spamcop
aren't blocking anything.




Jason




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