On Tue, Feb 03, 2004 at 10:02:42AM -0000, Tim Trent wrote:
> It is almost certainly a coincidence.
>
> When I get spam I make certain as a matter of course that I report it to
> SpamCop. It does make a (small) difference.
Based on our experience on SpamCop, almost all of the complaints that
we receive from them are bogus in one way or another. Most responsible
organisations take the time to investigate complaints, and it if Spamcops
bogus complaints are ignored blacklisting can be the result. Yes, Spamcop
does make a small difference; it reduces the resources available for
genuine spam fighting at many organisations. The people running it are
no doubt well meaning but rather misguided in their approach in my
opinion.
Spamcop cause more problems than they solve. There are dozens of
other organisations that you can report spam to which really do make a
difference without creating a nuisance (eg www.maps.com).
This is probably off topic, but Spamcop seem to be particularly problematic
in the ac.uk community, of which there are many on this list.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Brenda Scourfield
> Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2004 9:43 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [data-protection] Spam
>
> Since I have given the OIC my e-mail address I am being plagued with spam
> that does not have a very pleasant subject line - in fact some of it is
> disgusting ! Has anyone else found this happening ?
Without being able to check just how available the information was it
is impossible to tell. Certainly if your mail address is visible on
any web site in machine readable form you are likely to receive more
spam. Once your address has made it onto a list that is traded by the
spam industry you are on it forever. We are still receiving spam for
addresses that have been obsolete for over ten years.
If you aren't being plagued with spam, this normally means that your email
address is fairly new or your service provider is working hard to control
the problem.
The problem has reached epidemic proportions. It is now quite normal
for us to reject half a million messages a day detected as spam at the
University of Birmingham and over three times that on a bad day. This
all adds to the expense of running mail services both in direct
computing resources and support costs as spam prevention measures
occasionally hit legitimate email. A few a day still slip through.
Even if enforced, all that the new regulations are likely to achieve
are to stem the increase in otherwise reputable businesses from
spamming (and a few big names were spamming before the regulations
came into existence). The OIC's apparent lack of will to tackle spam
suggests that the new regulations may fail even to do that. It is
fortunate that we have the ASA to fall back on.
Chris Bayliss
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