Spamhaus: The Ultimate Censorship Machine
As most of you know, week after week
we sent out our InfoAve Premium and InfoAve free newsletters. And week
after week we spend hours trying to assist some of our subscribers whose
ISPs censor their email under the guise of "s*p*a*m filtering". It's
such a common occurrence we plan several hours each week assisting our
subscribers who want to receive their newsletter.
Well, last week we hit the biggest wall of all: something called
"Spamhaus". This "non-profit" organization provides "blacklists" to ISPs
free. Anyone on the blacklist is blocked from sending mail to customers
of ISPs who avail themselves of Spamhaus' blacklists.
If you visit the Spamhaus web site, the first thing you'll see is their
own glowing description of themselves. And, you'll notice, anyone who is
on their "blacklists" are pretty darn bad people. Thugs, criminals,
thieves. Well, read it for yourself:
"Spamhaus is an international non-profit organization whose mission is
to track the Internet's Spam Gangs, to provide dependable realtime
anti-spam protection for Internet networks, to work with Law Enforcement
Agencies to identify and pursue spammers worldwide, and to lobby
governments for effective anti-spam legislation.
Founded in 1998, Spamhaus is based in the UK and is run by a dedicated
team of 18 investigators located around the world.
Spamhaus publishes the Register Of Known Spam Operations (ROKSO) - a
database collating information and evidence on the 200 worst spam gangs
worldwide, used by ISPs to avoid signing up known spammers, and by Law
Enforcement Agencies to help target and mount prosecutions against spam
gangs....."
Now that sounds all well and good. This non-profit company, seeks
donations to continue their mission of preventing these thugs and
criminals from spamming their way into your inbox.
We're going to show you how such a seemingly good idea can turn into a
nightmare. Like many things it sounds good on paper but in reality it
doesn't work. Not only doesn't it work but this so-called altruistic
venture called "Spamhaus" has evolved into a multi-tentacled censorship
monster that does not block all spam and does block good email that
people want.
Last week, the delivery rate of our Premium newsletter was 77%. That
means that roughly one-quarter of our subscribers, who paid to receive
our newsletter, did not get it. A great percentage of those did not
receive our newsletter because their ISP uses the blacklists and
services of Spamhaus. We told everyone who wrote saying that they did
not receive their newsletter that their ISP was using a service called
Spamhaus.org to filter (censor) their email. A lot of them wrote back to
us after contacting their ISPs showing their ISPs denying they use any
spam filters at all; but this was not true. Here's a typical case in
point and this is verbatim from an email exchange we had with Premium
subscriber Earl.
Earl writes:
Mornin Guys,
Love infoave Premium. Have been a lifetime subscriber for a long time
and never missed getting my issue on time--until--the March17 issue. I
did NOT receive it BUT did receive the FREE issue on the 18th. Obviously
my ISP is not blocking your mail or I would not have received the free
issue. Question: Is my name still on the mail list for the Premium
issues ?? I know you are swamped with mail but Please do answer. Thanks
again and again. Earl
We wrote back:
Your ISP uses Spamhaus.org to censor your personal email with. Spamhaus
promises that only "bulk unsolicited" mail is refused, but as with most
free services, it appears rather faulty since you certainly are not
getting your news unsolicited, since you pay for it. Many ISP tell their
customers they do not do this; customers will have to fight back by
demanding their ISP quit censoring their email. Here is the proof you
need to complain to your ISP. Since your got your free one, it appears
they are refusing because of the information censoring of the newsletter
contents, not the place it came from.
Fri, 17 Mar 2006 06:20:45 Sending email to: xxxxxxx@xxxxxxx (address
changed to protect Earl's privacy)
<-- DNS info available for: netzero.com
--> Attempting to connect to: netzero.com (64.136.20.83 25)
<-- Connected to: netzero.com (64.136.20.83 25)
<-- 550 IP 69.25.194.2 in sbl-xbl.spamhaus.org : Access Denied, please
see www.spamhaus.org
Earl writes back:
Net Zero wrote me saying that YOU are right and they had the block
removed. They say I should receive my Premium issues in the future !
{They read your PROOF as stated below} Boy Oh Boy !! That hit em right
where it should have. Thanks whoever you are and don't forget to sign
you name to your mail. Sincerely, Earl
Here's another example.
Premium Subscriber Marilyn writes:
Hello
I wonder if you could please advise? For the first time ever I have not
received my Information Avenue email this week (no 126) Last one I have
received was 10th March (125). I haven't changed my isp, email address,
or settings. I phoned my isp, they tell me that nothing has changed, yet
no email. I have checked my spam folder, nothing. Please , do you have
any suggestions? Thank you very much - Marilyn
We wrote back:
It is a shame that an ISP will not be honest with their subscribers
about how they censor personal email. The following will assist:
Your ISP uses Spamhaus.org to censor your personal email with. Spamhaus
promises that only "bulk unsolicited" mail is refused, but as with most
free services, it appears rather faulty since you certainly are not
getting your news unsolicited, since you pay for it. Many ISP tell their
customers they do not do this; customers will have to fight back by
demanding their ISP quit censoring their email. Here is the proof you
need to complain to your ISP
Fri, 17 Mar 2006 06:21:05 Sending email to: xxx@xxx.xxx (email address
changed to protect Marilyn's privacy)
<-- DNS info available for: supanet.com
--> Attempting to connect to: supanet.com (213.40.66.38 25)
<-- Connected to: supanet.com (213.40.66.38 25)
<-- 550-Host 69.25.194.2 is listed at sbl-xbl.spamhaus.org as spam.
<-- 550 See:
http://www.spamhaus.org/query/bl?ip=69.25.194.2
We could go on and on and on - because we have hundreds of these, but
you get the point. Last week we spent dozens of hours banging our heads
against the wall trying to help subscribers get a newsletter they paid
for but Spamhaus designated "spam". How can something someone wants and
pays for be spam? It can't. And shame on Spamhaus and others of their
ilk for censoring honest email that people want and arbitrarily calling
it spam.
We spend dozens of hours writing to subscribers who have been told by
their ISPs that they don't use any spam filters, even after we show them
proof that they do. Last week was so bad we had to cancel several other
projects just to take care of subscribers who were rightfully upset
because their ISP censored and deleted their email without any notice at
all.
We've written many times about your rights to receive all email
addressed to you and your responsibility to control spam. It should
never be left up to any third party to determine which email you should
receive and which email you should not receive. You are the only one
that can make that decision. The very least an ISP can do, if they think
censorship is such a great thing, is save the email so their customers
can at least see what the ISP is censoring and give the customer a
chance to say whether they consider that email spam or good email. And,
some, like Earthlink, do this. But most do not.
We're not thugs. We're not criminals or a gang of spammers. But
according to Spamhaus, we are. Our Premium subscribers paid to receive
our newsletter and we do all that is humanly possible to do to ensure
that every Premium subscriber receive his or her newsletter every
Friday. Last Friday we ran into a buzz saw call Spamhaus and nearly
one-quarter of our Premium subscribers did not receive a newsletter
for which they paid.
You will have to ask your ISP to explain why they reject a letter one
day and allow it the next. People let their ISP censor their mail and do
not realize its room for error.
Here's one more letter that gives you a glimpse as to how a company like
Spamhaus can take a bad situation and make it worse. This is an email
exchange between Premium subscriber Rita and us:
Rita writes:
Please send me (Premium) issue 126. I know that my ISP is not stopping
your news letters from getting through. Thanks, Rita
We responded:
Your ISP uses Spamhaus.org to censor your personal email with. Spamhaus
promises that only "bulk unsolicited" mail is refused, but as with most
free services, it appears rather faulty since you certainly are not
getting your news unsolicited, since you pay for it.
Many ISP tell their customers they do not do this; customers will have
to fight back by demanding their ISP quit censoring their email.
Here is the proof you need to complain to your ISP blueyonder.co.uk:
Fri, 17 Mar 2006 06:20:52 Sending email to: jh001g9811@blueyonder.co.uk
<-- DNS info available for: blueyonder.co.uk
--> Attempting to connect to: blueyonder.co.uk (195.188.53.99 25)
<-- Connected to: blueyonder.co.uk (195.188.53.99 25)
<-- 550-Rejected because 69.25.194.2 is in a black list at sbl-xbl.dnsbl.
<-- 550-Please contact your ISPs Abuse department to get this resolved.
<-- 550 http://www.spamhaus.org/query/bl?ip=69.25.194.2
Rita writes:
Thank you for your prompt reply. I have contacted my ISP and they have
told me to forward your comments on to abuse@blueyonder.co.uk and this I
have done. I have received your free news letter ok but not the premium
one can you explain this.
I am grateful for any advise that you can give me. Rita
We responded:
You will have to ask your ISP to explain why they reject a letter one
day and allow it the next. People let their ISP censor their mail and do
not realize its room for error.
We've shown you a few examples of those who never received our
newsletters because of arbitrary and senseless censorship by Spamhaus.
And, Spamhaus is just one of many such "services".
Our mail administrator reported that Spamhaus claims they "made a
mistake" and removed us, but the next morning they put us back on, then
removed again in the afternoon. Spamhaus does not know what "caused" it.
And, arbitrary censorship not affects our newsletter. Every week
dozens of people who order products from us write to us saying we never
sent them their order. But we did. ISPs, and ISPs who use services like
Spamhaus, CBL, and others even censor order fulfillments. This makes us
look bad in terms of customer service. It looks like we don't care. Yet
we make great efforts to ensure that anyone who orders something from us
is taken care of professionally and in a timely manner.
It's time for everyone to take control of their own email and demand
that ISPs stop using faulty services like Spamhaus, which claim to be
the answer to the spam problem, but in reality create bigger problems by
not stopping all spam and by censoring and deleting good email that
belongs to the person to which it is addressed.
If you're missing your Premium
newsletter that's one thing - you know it's coming and if it does not
come to you then you are aware that it is missing and can write to us
and perhaps we can find out who blocked it. But what about important
emails that you're not expecting? You'd never know you're missing them
because you had no idea they were coming. It's a problem that stretches
far beyond our newsletters. It affects each and everyone of you whose
ISPs censor email. If you're missing your Premium newsletter on Friday,
who knows how many other important emails address to you are being
deleted by censorship? You will never know as long as ISPs are permitted
to arbitrarily interfere with your personal email and delete it without
your knowledge or permission.
Let's face it. There is no simple answer to the spam problem. The only
effective way is for individuals to control spam is on a personal level;
whether that be by using a spam control software program like
SpamBully,
or by screening their mail in some other way.
Spam, no doubt, in an
annoyance. Allowing others to control what you receive is censorship.
Censorship is more than an annoyance; it is a restriction of your
rights. If
you allow someone else to censor and delete your email without your
permission or knowledge, these cases of "missing newsletters", order
fulfillments, and other important email being censored and deleted will
continue and this mess will only get worse.
All of you need to contact your ISP and let them know that you don't
need to be protected by companies like Spamhaus - who reject email based
on nebulous, arbitrary, and incomprehensible rules. It's time to fight
back and let your ISP know that you're paying them for a service and
that service includes email service and to have all email addressed to
you, delivered to you.
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