[ppml] Getting off blocklists

[Dr. Jeffrey Race]

Jill this is the answer to your question; you can take further correspondence 
on this subject offlist or carry it to Spam-L where there are much better 
resources.  This information may be useful to other PPML list members as well

First, your correspondence proves beyond doubt that blocklists work and are
the ONLY thing that works against refractory spammers and their profiteering
enablers like C&W.  You did not get interested in this subject until the C&W
corporate mail servers got blocklisted.  See below.

On Fri, 15 Nov 2002 11:02:10 -0800, Jill Kulpinski wrote:

>So...joe-schmo wants to improve his relationship with the blacklisters and show 
>that he is actively trying to clean things up.

He has to CLEAN THEM UP (which means throw them off the network), not "try"


mmm...following the instructions on the blacklisting
>sites to have things removed does not work.  What then?  Joe will not accept the 
fact that he is
>just screwed and can not improve the internet environment on behalf of the 
address space he
>administers. 

As people driven by reason and idealism, not profit, most antispammers are
willing to listen to anyone and act as reason dictates.  There are very few
crazies in the antispamming community, though there are arguments about how
big a mallet to apply to the likes of C&W and UUNet.

Public announcements on Spam-L and NANAE will get you off most lists.

>Also, how does Joe know that he has contacted all the 'right' blacklisters?

See above.  Everyone in the community reads Spam-L.

>It is very tough, though, because blacklisters don't list just the offenders,
>but as everyone knows, larger aggregates containing clean addresses as well as 
>the dirty ones.

I will explain this to you.  There are published policies about blocklisting.
The most famous one is from SPEWS which you should download and read carefully.
Basically SPEWS starts by blocklisting an offending IP address after reports
to the (ir)responsible owner are ignored.   As reports continue, the blocklisting
is enlarged progressively.  The final step, after all efforts at polite 
persuasion have failed (as have with C&W) is to blocklist the corporate mail
servers.   When the spam-enabling ISP's own executives no longer can use 
e-mail (just like their victims, ha ha ha) then they start to pay attention.
Apparently this is why you have become interested in spam--you are paying the
price of the misdeeds of your firm's (mis)management.

All these issues have been thoroughly ventilated on Spam-L.  You (and anyone
else interested in how blocklists work) should sign up for Spal-L: send a
message to 

  <LISTSERV at peach.ease.lsoft.com>

containing the string

  subscribe SPAM-L (your name)

You will also want to get the SPEWS FAQ.   SPEWS is probably the most 
effective blocklist because its operators are anonymous and beyond the
reach of land sharks (=lawyers) from spam-enablers like C&W.  Google 
on this string:

 +spews +faq

Jeffrey Race

PS: Please ask your management why they are still hosting <sex2go.com>
after months of complaints and robotic auto-acks.  Their answer will
tell you why you personally are having 'mail issues'.

 [C:\]tracerte sex2go.com
 0  192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1)  8 ms  0 ms  7 ms
 1  192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1)  0 ms  0 ms  0 ms
 2  10.20.12.9 (10.20.12.9)  47 ms  55 ms  47 ms
 3  ppp-203.144.161.5.revip.asianet.co.th (203.144.161.5)  47 ms  54 ms
 4  ppp-203.144.144.157.revip.asianet.co.th (203.144.144.157)  54 ms  46
ms
 5  ppp-203.144.144.2.revip.asianet.co.th (203.144.144.2)  54 ms  55 ms
 6  210.182.0.193 (210.182.0.193)  149 ms  148 ms  141 ms
 7  210.120.192.6 (210.120.192.6)  149 ms  149 ms  141 ms
 8  203.255.234.194 (203.255.234.194)  273 ms  258 ms  266 ms
 9  * 203.255.234.57 (203.255.234.57)  274 ms  273 ms
10  bpr2-so-6-0-1.PaloAltoPaix.cw.net (206.24.241.217)  273 ms  273 ms  2
11  agr1-loopback.SantaClara.cw.net (208.172.146.101)  274 ms  265 ms  27
12  dcr1-so-6-0-0.SantaClara.cw.net (208.172.156.37)  274 ms  273 ms  281
13  dcr1-loopback.NewYork.cw.net (206.24.194.99)  375 ms  383 ms  383 ms
14  ahr1-pos-0-0.Weehawkennj2.cw.net (206.24.207.34)  359 ms  360 ms  359
15  csr11-ve241.Weehawkennj2.cw.net (216.35.65.154)  375 ms  359 ms  360
16  216.35.68.28 (216.35.68.28)  360 ms  360 ms  359 ms
17  64.14.41.90 (64.14.41.90)  382 ms  382 ms *

Have a nice day.

/end/