IP: more on Champ.Mitchell: WARNING: Your email is vulnerable to SPAM Robots!

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2001 12:03:24 -0700
> To: farber () cis upenn edu, ip-sub-1 () majordomo pobox com
> From: Brett Glass <brett () lariat org>
>
> At 04:02 PM 12/30/2001, John Gilmore wrote:
>
> >My site got three unsolicited emails, using forged return addresses,
> >from ORDB today too.  They do not have permission to relay email
> >through my site.
>
> They are testing to see whether your mail server is an "open relay" --
> a system which has made itself available to spammers as a way of
> propagating their noxious messages The infinitesimal cost of the
> resources they consume is "de minimus," but the good they do by
> ferreting out open relays -- which are attractive nuisances and
> foster the propagation of spam -- is immense. ORDB, ORBZ, MAPS,
> and similar organizations provide a very valuable service. We support
> MAPS, in particular, by paying a yearly fee to access, and help them
> to maintain, their database. For more on the problems caused by
> open relays and how to avoid the spam they propagate, see the
> in-depth paper I presented this summer at the O'Reilly Open Source
> Conference in San Diego. It can be found at
>
> http://www.brettglass.com/spam/index.html
>
> --Brett

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