[EMAIL PROTECTED] at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote on 2/26/04 8:39 AM ----- >>I certainly suffer spam headaches for reasons that are beyond my control, >>but it never occurred to me to try to block mail from the ISP where it >>originated. With our sensitive server, it appears that we could soon >>reduce each other to a read-only status, except that there wouldn't be >>much to read. > >Usually blocking an entire domain is an extremist move. However, there >are times when it is warranted. I have no idea how much spam Brian was >getting from cox, but if he had no legit email coming from them, and a >large supply of spam, then blocking the whole domain may have been the >most reasonable move. > >It also could have been a decision based on however his spam controls >work. If he used the AOL controls, he may have had little choice (I'm not >very familiar with the options AOL gives, but my brother has complained >that they are just shy of useless as they either don't let you filter >enough, or force you to over filter and run a high number of false >positives). > >And if you think filtering an entire domain is big... I know people that >filter entire countries, or entire netblocks. Its actually fairly normal >to filter everything from china or korea because of the amazingly high >level of spam coming from those countries.
It doesn't even have to be anything Bill did. It could be something his ISP did, or something someone else on his local network did. Many email administrators - including me - now rely on Domain Name Server Black Lists (DNSBLs) to help manage spam. These are services which, in response to your email server's inquiry, advise whether or not there are high levels of spam or spam risk from that particular domain. If there are, you can reject the message. These kinds of services are provided by AbuseAt, SpamCop, OrdB and many others. These services decide whether to black list a domain based upon whether it permits open relaying, reported levels of spam and other factors. They sometimes make mistakes, leading to more collateral damage on the spam-blocking battlefield. Right now, this is one of the most effective tools an email server has available to limit spam. But the process is not without flaws. Jim DeWitt ------------------------------------------------------------- James D. DeWitt Voice: (907) 452-8986 Icicle Software Fax: (907) 452-7015 PO Box 72750 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fairbanks, Alaska 99707 http://www.iciclesoftware.com ------------------------------------------------------------- ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe send a mail message with a SUBJECT line of "unsubscribe" to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
