Re: SPAM Messages

[Joe Buck <jbuck at synopsys dot com>]

> 
> >SPAMMERs addressing a mailing list like egcs that's archived on a  
> >publicly accessible Web server don't have to do that - they just  
> >slurp up the Web pages and scan for mail addresses.
> 
> Ooooh, I hadn't thought of that.  Those nasty people!  So you're
> saying all our email addresses are publicly available simply
> because we're all on the egcs distribution list and that list
> is public?  Boy, the things I could learn if I spent more time
> surfin'!  Sigh.
> 
> Is it out of line to ask whether it's better to make such email
> distribution lists private?
> 
> >Sorry to be so direct, but there's no use in propagating false  
> >beliefes of safety.
> 
> I agree with that.  Sorry to have done.  Perhaps my rules do work
> for cases of people not on lists with publicly accessible
> distribution lists, and I've seen people claim they've watched
> their SPAM counts drop dramatically after doing relatively easy
> things like switching to modified USENET "From:" addresses, but
> perhaps the spammers have started using these newer harvesting
> technologies en masse (by virtue of sharing the harvested info,
> at least), so obviously my advice wouldn't help anybody on
> *this* list.
> 
> Still, I do see some people claiming spammers do make some use
> of "liveness" information, namely, addresses *from* which they
> get replies like "remove me".  But maybe that's old too, if
> it was ever true.
> 
> Maybe we could somehow teach egcs to insert viruses into any
> spammer-harvesting code it compiles?  Naaah.  :)
> 
>         tq vm, (burley)
> 
> P.S. Part of the reason I'm interested in this is that I'll
> probably be changing my email address in the near future,
> when I finally pick that new ISP, etc.  I'd like to have some
> idea how to avoid being fresh "spam-bait" without taking too
> much trouble.  Certainly getting off the egcs mailing list(s)
> *would* be too much trouble (though doing so would cut down
> on my incoming email considerably ;-).
> 
> But it might not be practical for me to have gnu.org stop
> forwarding email for a very long time, so it might not matter,
> except to the degree I get spammed by people who do use only
> *recently* harvested addresses.
> 
> IMO, spammers are barnacles on the hull of cybershipping.
> That they can't be entirely removed doesn't mean it's a waste
> of time to remove some of them here and there.
>