FC: Email a Mail-block.com customer, get an advertisement

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Remember we had a related problem with MailWiper, which I recall was 
spamming ads, not just displaying them on its website (big difference):
http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=mailwiper

And SpamArrest:
http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=spamarrest

In the range of good-to-bad online behavior, Mail-block.com's ads are 
hardly noxious. They're just tacky. Couple that with poor integration with 
an email client that doesn't whitelist folks in your outbox, and you get 
this result.

Mail-block.com appears to be run by DirectPop.net. I invite them to reply. 
Also it would be helpful if they could explain why there is no privacy 
policy or terms of service agreement visible on their home page or where 
prospective customers sign up for an account 
(https://directpop.net/secureWebMail-Block/signup.cfm).

-Declan

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http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=31

Posted by David Carlson 10:04:31 AM
Go Ahead, Spam Your Friends
Now here's a novel idea: You can eliminate spam in your in-box by spamming 
everyone else! That's what a product called Mail-Block does for you. 
"Mail-Block© lets you receive only the e-mail you want to receive and 
nothing else!" the website boasts. "Mail-Block© intercepts every message 
coming into your e-mail and processes it based upon your set of 
preferences; if the e-mail is from someone your Mail-Block© doesn't 
recognize, it immediately sends back a verification e-mail." Isn't that 
just the horse's behind? And it only costs $29.95 a year!
I found this "product" because, the other day, a complete stranger sent me 
a message asking a quick question. My reply generated a spam from 
Mail-Block: "This letter is being sent to you because you have used our 
Mail-Block System. You sent a message to (name removed to protect the 
guilty), who is currently using this system, and now you can see the power 
of using the Mail-Block Technology. To complete the delivery of your 
e-mail, please click on the link below." This was followed by four 
paragraphs of unsolicited commercial message attempting to sell Mail-Block 
and Internet access to go with it. Guess what: The stranger never got her 
answer. 




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