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06 JUL 2002 by Gordon Fecyk, Pan-Am Internet Services
| I can say I ran an anti-spam project that didn't violate its charter. Can you? |
FEW THINGS ANGER ME more than people who don't do what they promise. I've been bad in this respect too, and I anger myself when I am unable to keep my own promises.
At least I can say I've kept my promises in the anti-spam industrycommunity. For example, the Orca DUL, later the Pan-Am PDL, has so far remained true to its original charter since November 1998. True, the words evolved from "dial-up IPs" to "dynamic IPs" to "home IPs" and finally to "IPs not intended to run servers." I can say that even though the jargon changed, the charter itself has not, and in over three years of maintaining it I've never deliberately violated it.
More importantly, network admins who wanted to stop spam could use it knowing exactly what to expect, and they also knew that I learned how to be really good at it. Because of that, it got and kept subscribers and in time became an effective anti-spam project because of the numbers of subscribers.
Now a thousand lists have bloomed. I'm sure the majority of the maintainers went into the fray fully planning to stick to why they started their lists in the first place. It's the ones that haven't I have problems with.
DNSBLs ARE NOT EFFECTIVE unless they have subscribers. Even if you're running a project for your own benefit only, you have a subscriber - yourself. The PDL is effective because it has subscribers. SPEWS is effective, in spite of those who are listed, because they have subscribers. RSL, Osirusoft, SBL and a whole list of other TLAs are effective because they have subscribers.
How do you get subscribers? Probably the same way most opt-in e-mail lists get subscribers: One at a time. How do you point potential subscribers to your DNSBL? Probably the same way most opt-in e-mailers do: Links on other industrycommunity pages, word of mouth, hell, even banner advertising.
Sounds like the anti-spam list operators have the same problems opt-in list operators have.
And what kills an opt-in list? All of us anti-spammers know: Not being opt-in anymore. I'll simplify that: Violating their charters!
SOME ISPs SAY we're worse than the spammers. These days, I wonder if they're right. We've lied, we've cheated, and we've broken our own rules. We brag about how many people use our lists, and we brag about how many networks are on our lists. We list each other. After all this, we wonder why ISPs don't use our projects and average Internet users say there aren't any magic bullets to stop spam.
Some of you will even call me a hypocrite, fingering all of you for making the same mistakes I made. At least I can say I ran an anti-spam project that didn't violate its charter. Can you?
I hope you can, because we need you.
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