> Just a little note about these spam lists. Our server was placed on a list
> because we had an 'open' relay. OK.. not the best thing in world, but
> definitely not a felony. Because of the weight that this organization
It may not be a felony but it does leave open an avenue for the exploitation
of other peoples networks and is negligent. This is the exact type of behavior
that these lists are out to prevent. If everyone went around with open
relays, spammers would have a heyday. The entire point is to help people become
responsible with their own networks. The resources are out there to help
novices get this cleared up.
There is absolutely no excuse that I can think of for leaving an open
relay on the net. Its potentially harmful not only to your network but
to others as well.
> carries, our service provider (PSI.net) gave us 48 hours to correct the
> situation or we'd be fully cuttoff from eMail. Unfortunately, it was
Personally I praise PSI.net for their response to the issue.
> extremely bad timing for our small business, and required an upgrade to our
> mailserver. All in all we spent about 5 hours originally earmarked for a
This is where proper planning comes in. You need to know the software that you
are running and its limitations. You also need to know how to plug
potential security risks that are inherint in the software that you are
running. Being a systems administrator isn't all quake games :-)
On a personal note, I feel for you and the problems that it can cause
being unprepared for something like this.
> client trying to make everyone happy. We still have no confirmation that
> we've been removed from the spam list.
>
This is one thing that if I were able I would change. Having some way of
knowing that you are off the list is definately important. I believe that
if the RBL is the list that blocked you then you can find out at
http://maps.vix.com. Last time I was there there was a tool to check.
> The moral of the story? Although these lists are a great idea at first
> glance, they are run by organizations which are not accontable to any
> governing agency. Relying on their lists means that you are potentially
Who would you want to be the governing agency ? ICANN ? NetSol? ARIN?
the US Government ? Who ? and who would pay them to babysit this ?
> going to block out innocent companies (like ours) who have never sent spam
> and were only abused by one spammer, one time. There is no recourse and no
Abuse is abuse. You may be innocent of spamming but you were guilty of
negligence. This can be as bad as the actual act itself.
> benefit of doubt given to the accused spammers.
>
> Frank
>
>
Dave Costello
