Spammers beware of online vigilantes

By Stuart Finlayson

To those who think nothing of causing annoyance to millions of email users by peddling spam messages, look out – the anti-spammers are on your tail.

That is the message that has emerged from last week's discovery in New Zealand of prolific spammer Shane Atkinson, who boasted that "on a good day" he could sent close to 100 million emails promoting penis enlargement pills. Atkinson was forced to shut down his operation after his own personal details were posted on the Internet, leading to him being on the receiving end of thousands of abusive missives from irate users.

As the problem of spam has grown, so too has the level of frustration from email users who often have to sift through dozens of junk email on a daily basis.

In addition to the thousands of tech savvy users who have taken steps to trace the perpetrators of spam and force them to quit, a website called Spamhaus has been created that contains a database of IP addresses of verified spam sources, which has been posted online to make it easier for email administrators to manage incoming email streams.

The website also contains a register called ROKSO (register of known spam operations) which lists spam operators known to have been thrown off a minimum of three consecutive Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for serious spam offences. Those included on the list are thought to be responsible for up to 90 percent of the spam received worldwide.

It is unclear who is behind Spamhaus, but there is little doubt that it is a valuable service, and it's free.

A statement issued on the Spamhaus website says: "The Internet is a network of private networks. Nobody has a right, under any country's law, to send unwanted email into networks that do not accept unsolicited bulk email, nobody has a right to compel another network's users to receive any unwanted communication, whatever its merit. It is the right and responsibility of all networks to adopt, implement, and enforce measures to deter and prevent the improper use of unsolicited bulk electronic mail. The networks that use the SBL use it freely and voluntarily for the sole purpose of protecting customers and private equipment from the blight of Unsolicited Bulk Email. The SBL is not intended to restrict the normal flow of mail, but rather to preserve the flow of normal email."

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