On 2021-01-20 05:10, Hans-Martin Mosner via mailop wrote:
On one hand, UCEPROTECT is relatively aggressive, and their unlisting policy is
at least questionable. However, running
a blacklist incurs costs in terms of server time and admin time, so if they
provide access for free, how should they
recover their costs?
On that note, let me tell you all a story:
I (with assistance of others) wrote RFC6471 ("Overview of Best Email
DNS-Based List (DNSBL) Operational Practices") way back in 2012. It has
a section called "conflict of interest" where delisting for a fee (for
charity or otherwise) was considered a MUST NOT - due to its appearance
of extortion.
At the time, only SORBS and UCEPROTECT were doing "fees", in SORBS case,
the fees went to charities. I was told directly by UCEPROTECT that the
fees were "beer money" for the volunteers, and NOT to recover costs.
RFC6471 was in its final stages of discussion within the ASRG before
pushing upwards for IETF final editting and approval. UCEPROTECT took
great exception and attempted to extort me (and another author who
wasn't active at all at the time) personally to take that section out.
They turned off UCEPROTECT removals entirely, directed listees to
complain to me (and the co-author) personally, and everyone went away
for the weekend.
The uproar was in the ASRG, and people like John Levine will remember it
well. The UCEPROTECT spokesperson was quite gleeful about the impending
mailbomb.
I told them that if they didn't stop doing this by the Monday, I'd have
to report it to my Corporate Security and Legal departments as an attack
upon the company.
There was a mad scramble on their side and they finally got it stopped.
UCEPROTECT's customer base seems fairly small, most of it in Germany
where apparently they have secured some commercial contracts under some
sort of "buy German" doctrine.
As a FYI, SORBS was also present in the conversation and acted entirely
professionally throughout the whole thing. A few months later SORBS
informed me that they had dropped their charitable donation request.
And, oh, the mailbomb? Precisely 4 angry emails, of which every one of
which, once I explained the situation, encouraged to not give in to
UCEPROTECT.
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