From: "Ted White" <twhite8 at cox.net>
To: "WSFA members" <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: SpamArrest
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 19:44:08 -0400
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Kling" <jkling at nasw.org>
To: "WSFA members" <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2004 7:28 PM
Subject: [WSFA] Re: SpamArrest

> Ted White wrote:
>
> >>This might be of interest to those of you for whom spam is a major
> >>problem. It's called Spam Arrest (http://www.spamarrest.com/), and it
> >>works by sending an email response to anyone who emails you for the
> >>first time, directing them to go to a web site and manually confirm
> >>their existence. They are then added to your authorized sender list, so
> >>it only needs to be done once. I imagine you can manually add people to
> >>the authorized sender list as well, but I haven't read into it that
far.
> >>
> >>If anyone uses it, I'd be interested to hear your impressions. A bit
> >>drastic for me to pursue just yet, but I may consider it in future.
> >
> >How would a list like this confirm that it wasn't spam?
> >
> The spammer won't go jump through the hoop of going to a web page and
> doing the confirmation.
>
> What really appeals to me about SpamArrest is that it generates backlash
> against the spammer -- he gets a confirmation email sent right back to
> him. Send 100,000 emails to 100,000 people using SpamArrest or a similar
> service, and you're server would crash.

I gather you hadn't read Keith's post when you wrote this.   But even so,
you haven't in *any* respect answered my question.   So I'll rephrase it:

Say you install SpamArrest in your computer.  And then you get a WSFAlist
post from me.   SpamArrest won't query *me* to "go jump through the hoop of
going to a web page and doing the confirmation."  It will query WSFAlist.
And WSFAlist won't respond, thus consigning itself to being a spammer in
SpamArrest's eyes.

I personally belong to close to two dozen lists, both fannish and
non-SF-oriented, and if I installed SpamArrest or any of its cousins I'd be
cut off from all of them.   Your mileage may vary.

--Ted White