Spam Resource: All Things Deliverability

Nothing really wrong with the guidance in this blog post over at the Bronto Blog , but I can't be the only person who read the head line and thought, hey, I'm a person, not a lost shopping cart. Don't "push" me. Invite me. Am I right? (No, I'm not chan…

Well, maybe it wasn't quite a sure thing, because you never know how a judge is going to rule. You just don't. Even if the law seems clear as the blue sky (and this one does). But, good news -- as most folks expected, Holomaxx got spanked again in court today, the judge…

Over on the Word to the Wise blog, Steve Atkins reports on something very alarming : That Trend Micro's MAPS blocking lists seem to be playing silly buggers with spamtraps. Specifically, that while their stated requirements for list management best practices has always mand…

Well, I knew this was going to happen eventually: Google now has global spam filtering for Google Voice . It works in a way very similar to how ISPs track the sending reputation of email senders based on feedback from their users (i.e. spam reports). Now, if you opt-in to Googl…

The email authentication protocol  DomainKeys Identified Mail,  aka DKIM, is winding its way through the standards track, and seems to be the future of email authentication. Recently, a lone voice, a security researcher with Trend Micro, seemingly upset at being sidelined durin…

SpamTips.org, a website devoted to SpamAssassin Tips ( SpamAssassin being the wildly popular open-source spam filter) recently posted a wonderful DNSBL Safety Report , showing hit rates against both spam and non-spam (false positives) for various blacklists commonly used in Spa…

Gee, ya think THIS will scale? Over on the AOL Postmaster blog , a commenter tells a tale of his alternate method of finding a human at AOL to assist with his spam blocking issue: "Since I felt that this was beginning to rise to the level of something that AOL execs shoul…

I was asked today if Spamcop should be "trusted." After all, even the Spamcop Wikipedia page says that their blocking list is "controversial." Though, is it truly more controversial than any other blacklist out there? Let me tell you what I know. The last …

I received an email the other day that went something like this: "Hello, A media site you recently visited would like you to participate in their user-survey. Your input will be combined with other users' across the country to improve their site. To encourage your part…

Who are you? Wait -- now I remember you. Long ago, I was visiting some far away city, biding my time in some mall or airport or something, some place where the only option for wi-fi was via your company, so I paid you for a day's worth of Internet access or whatever. Now, t…

How come my list of third-party opt-ins from two years ago is now having problems, the question goes. What changed? I'm still doing everything right. I'm getting that question a lot lately, and a colleague suggested that I post my answer here, to share it with readers.…

The Composite Blocking List, a very popular anti-spam blacklist, reports that the Rustock botnet seems to have been disabled . Spam levels have plummeted as a result. Likely not forever, but it's still nice to see the bad guys struggling. Security journalist Brian Krebs cov…

But my email fully complies with CAN-SPAM, the argument goes. How can ISPs be allowed to block my mail? I comply! Here's how. Read section 8C of the CAN-SPAM law . It says: NO EFFECT ON POLICIES OF PROVIDERS OF INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE-- Nothing in this Act shall be cons…

Guest post by Neil Schwartzman . Reposted from the Word to the Wise blog with the permission of the author and publisher.   Josh Baer, former VP of Datran Media and current CEO of OtherInBox.com has been floating an idea at the DMA’s Email Experience Council and a few other…

On March 5th, Spamhaus announced a change to its DBL (Domain Block List). They're now breaking out a separate category of listings specific to spamvertized URL redirectors that appear in spam. Meaning, if URL redirectors like bit.ly show up in a lot of spam, they're li…

Return Path's J.D. Falk reports on Comcast's efforts to let customers know when their home computers are infected: Pushing infectees into walled garden, redirecting them to a page warning them that their network connection is infected. J.D. Writes: "As one of the w…

Techworld reports: "Once the largest source of the world's spam, China has been gradually fading off the list of the world's top spam-producers. Right now Cisco Systems' IronPort group ranks it at number 18 in terms of spam-producing countries. That's a big…

A few days ago, a Slashdot user asked , “ Is there a war on small mail servers? ” The admin went on to state that he or she works for a company hosting their own mail server. Their two ISPs (Comcast and Verizon) both block port 25 outbound, and they’re complaining of getting ca…

Box of Meat tipped us to this wonderful post detailing the best practices to keep in mind when creating one or more spam trap addresses or domains. Spam fighters: this is a must read!