At 11:25 AM 9/9/2002 -0700, Tony Karavidas wrote: >What a small world! :)
Indeed. The return address given in the "complaint" mail was on a server in Beijing, if it was legitimate. However, as was correctly observed, the source of the mail was, from the headers, a server for Kollmorgen. As it happens, the Electro Optical division of Kollmorgen is located in Northampton, MA, a few minutes from where I sit at this moment. I think this is the home of the original Norden bombsight. But the server may be located in Worcester. The original complaint/threat I found interesting: > >If this waste of our resources does not cease immediately, please be advised > >that we may activate the Revenge(tm) program for this user. Revenge would > >automatically sign this user up for almost 300 mailing lists to provide a > >graphic illustration of what it's like to receive unwanted junk e-mail. This, of course, was complete idiocy, since a real spammer will not care one bit about mailbombing; but such action definitely can cause a lot of damage to innocent third parties, starting with the managers of the mailing lists who would be forced to deal with the mess. A legitimate mailer -- which includes all of us writing on this list -- is vulnerable. That's nice, isn't it, punish the innocent while leaving the real offenders unharmed. Perhaps we will learn the real story behind this affair, through the contact at Kollmorgen. Anyway, I thought I'd take the opportunity to make some suggestions about spam. (1) Responding to spam is counterproductive. If it is not really spam, i.e., it is a reputable company which has somehow gotten you on a list, maybe you bought something from an affiliate, it is fine to reply and ask to be removed. But a real spammer, you know, BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY, HERBAL VIAGRA, YOU HAVE BEEN APPROVED FOR A CREDIT CARD, is unlikely to take you off a list, more likely you will be added to a list of confirmed addresses and resold. This is why laws providing for opt-out registration are not only not going to work, they may actually help the spammers, because any opt-out system can be used to confirm that addresses are valid! So the best response is no response. Yes, it is frustrating. (2) If you really want to do something about spam, look into Spamcop.com. I see now that spamcop.com is now forwarding to macafee.com for the SpamKiller product, which I think automates the complaint process, i.e., filing complaints with the ISP of the spammer. With most ISPs, a single complaint, properly filed, results in the cancellation of the spammer's account. There are a few rogue ISPs, increasingly isolated. Every so often, I am sufficiently outraged by a piece of spam that I walk through the process and complain to the ISP. The response has typically been that, for example, the web site being advertised went down immediately for violation of terms of use. Directly retaliating can be very much a bad idea, because, what with spoofing, one may well be punishing the innocent, perhaps even accomplishing the spammer's primary purpose, i.e., to attack the spoofed address. However, I did receive, recently, a pop-up instant message. I didn't even know that I had instant messaging enabled on my W2000 system. I suspect the message-spammer was simply broadcasting to random IP addresses; the same message popped up on two systems on my network. Anyway, I installed and set Zone Alarm to refuse outside attempts to access the message server, and then I called the toll-free number listed in the message. It was a recorded message from, yes, the spammer. So I put the phone on hold. It was a long time before the line dropped ... every so often I picked up, and, yes, the message was still playing.... perhaps I should have thanked the guy for pointing out the security hole.... ************************************************************************ * Tracking #: D9B8D80DFD64424C9B5CCB4DB8EBE3963C4C4C85 * ************************************************************************ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To post a message: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * To leave this list visit: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/leave.html * * Contact the list manager: * mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Forum Guidelines Rules: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/forumrules.html * * Browse or Search previous postings: * http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
