Readers slam UK govt. spam sham

UK Govt's stand on spam provokes angry backlash

Well, it's to be expected that the UK government will sit back and do nothing about spam while you inbox fills up with junk. Moaning about it's one thing. What about a solution? Our anonymous correspondent writes:

I think people are taking the whole thing out of context!

There are two main types of spammers:

1) People like grouplotto who do will spam your every day and so you can’t block there mails use hundreds of different names, making it impossible to block there messages on your mail system, and send messages with subject headers totally unrelated so you read there mail. And others who send porn emails.

2) Other hard working business trying to earn a living, send everyday items like computers and sports goods etc.. yes it can be done responsibly. (This should be classed as business communication not spam)

Email marketing is also good for the environment!! How many trees can we save every day?? Why complain about email but don't complain about the mail that comes through the door or the stuff on your fax? Because its an accepted way of communication!

Why not draw up some rules!

* Every email must include some way to unsubscribe from a companies mails
* Every business must maintain a database of unsubscribed users
* Companies must draw up guidelines for sending email shots, similar to a customer service policy.
* Maybe only allow .uk address to be used??

I'm sure if it is done responsibly we can all agree, as long as everyone plays fair only if a company sends mail after mail and the user requests to unsubscribe then take action against the company.

People who complain about responsible email marketing will limit the growth of the internet. The more people who use online stores and browse the net has to be good for us all! THE TECHNOLOGY IS THERE USE IT AND USE IT RESPONSIBLY!

Responsible email? No chance. Legislation now! Bruce J. discusses the possibilities further:

I normally don't comment on articles, but your implied stance with respect to the UK not passing laws trying to prevent SPAM pushed me to express my opinion on the subject.

First I must explain that I am not pro-spamming. I am what the spammers may call a militant anti-bulk-Email person. I am also partially responsable for handling mail across a class-B sized domain. As such, I can see the damage that UCBE {Unsolicited Commercial Bulk EMail} causes. To put it mildly, the amount of 'junk' that ends up in an individual's EMail-box is a small fraction of the amount that gets sent.

The following is why I think that your opinion with respect to SPAM is mis-informed:

* Not all SPAM originates at ISPs within the UK. A tremendous amount originates from the US.
* How are you going to enforce such a law against a SPAMMER in another country? (The 'Internet' transcends borders)
* How will adding a new law to the books solve this problem? It will make it illegal, but how do you then enforce it?
* How do you accurately track down the source? Some promiscuous relays or hacked machines will relay without showing you an originating IP address.
* What if the machine that was sending the Junk EMail was a machine that was hacked by the spammer, and the machine's owner has nothing to do with the spamming (surprisingly likely with MS machines.. and a disturbing new trend I have been seeing).
* What if the machine that was sending the Junk EMail is owned by the spammer, but they claim that the machine was hacked.

etc...

I am not against doing something about UCBE/aka SPAM, I just want it to be a "REAL" solution. I don't like the approach: Hey, lets invent a new law to solve the problem. That's just the ticket!!

ON TO A PARTIAL SOLUTION:
I am very surprised that the ISPs have not done much in controlling spam. Handling complaints from people who have been spammed by a customer of theirs can consume considerable resources and costs. A partial solution is very easy. One only has to observe the behavior of most of the spammers.

* spammers will generally use bulk EMail software that has one of the two following behaviors:

1) The software will understand DNS and will do a direct send to the destination domain for the targeted EMail address.
2) The software will use one or more IP addresses which have a promiscuous sendmail daemon on them, and the software will forward all of the Junk EMail through these relays.
*) Both of these use port 25 off of dialup or ADSL/DSL/Cable-modem lines to send the Junk EMail.

SOLUTION:
ISPs should block port 25 access to the Internet from all dialup lines on customers that do not own/run a domain and are on dynamically allocated IP addresses. These customers have to route all EMail through the ISP's mail server which can then 'meter-the-mail' to prevent abuse. 300 EMails per day is a good number. It is much too high for the average EMail-happy person and way too low for a spammer.

This will eliminate close to 90% of the Junk EMail because most spam software uses direct connections to port 25 on either the destination domains mail server or on a promiscuous mail server.

**Step 2 would be to set up a free tracking organization which would track promiscuous relays and allow people access to the list to block the relays until the owners fix them (the fixes have been out there for quite a while - http://www.sendmail.org). This list can be automated, reducing the amount of time that is required to maintain it. This used to be what 'ORBS' did.. but with the death of ORBS, I have lost my source of relay lists that I would use in blocking.

Good point about enforcing anti-spamming laws across international borders. The Yahoo! Nazi memorabilia palaver is an example of how difficult this sort of thing is.

In the end, does anyone really think that ISPs and governments give two hoots about protecting people from spam? Probably not.