Date: Sun, 07 Sep 1997 16:55:44 -0400 From: Drew Derbyshire <ahd@kew.com> To: "Jonathan M. Bresler" <jmb@FreeBSD.ORG> Cc: hackers@hub.freebsd.org, support@kew.com Subject: Re: spam and the FreeBSD mailing lists Message-ID: <341314D0.E22ADFF3@kew.com> References: <199709070254.TAA21387@hub.freebsd.org>
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Jonathan M. Bresler wrote: > therefore, we are not blocking mail from sites that can not be > resolved in the DNS. not that i dont want to, there are just too > many newbies out there that send mail to the lists. You really do want to enable that. First off, it really does kill much spam. Just as important, however, is that bounce messages just plain _don't_ _work_ for such users when they are legitimate, and a specific useful message reporting that the host cannot be resolved is going to do more to solve their (or their ISP's) long term problem with lost bounces more than blindly accepting mail which doesn't have a valid address. The TCP/IP protocol implicitly requires public IP address to be properly registered to be routed (otherwise, you don't get your ACK's back!), there is no sin in requiring public e-mail addresses registered as well. Note too, that newbies tend to not start with e-mail from their own sites, they use their existing connection (Windows connected to an ISP POP3 server or whatever) to get up and then migrate. I've handled e-mail support for UUPC/extended for ~ 8 years, I've watched the pattern for that long -- my help desk is now reading this over my shoulder, and her comment is "Yup -- and that any list which is spammed is less helpful". -- Internet: ahd@kew.com Voice: 617-279-9810 "MS-DOS didn't get as bad as it is overnight -- it took over ten years of careful development." - dmeggins@aix1.uottawa.ca
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