[SC-Help] Re: Getting balcklisted

[Mike Easter]

> Iain wrote:
>> I hope this is the correct group to post this to...

spamcop or .help will be fine now.

>> I am working with a large Government Department who want to send
>> Email reminders to users of their online services. There's a lot of
>> concern about users giving incorrect addresses (either deliberately
>> or by mistake) and this leading to undeliverable mail and this being
>> mis-identified by ISPs as spam and the Department being blacklisted.

There are many many reasons to be using good list management.  Failure
to use good mailing list management will lead to the list's mail being
reported as spam;  such spamsources will be listed and blocked;  then
the listed won't be getting the mail they want.  And the IP address
won't be able to complete its regular mail to other mail recipients not
on the mailing list.  Bad business all around.

>> Personally I think the chances of this are very low, but does anyone
>> have any general ideas on what might cause an ISP to automatically
>> blacklist an IP address?

There are many many scores of blocklists, over 150, devised by various
means and used in various ways.  Providers use public blocklists and
create their own blocklists as part of a comprehensive strategy against
spam, which is a big big problem.

>> There have been claims that "as few as three
>> misaddressed Emails to AOL" can cause AOL to block an IP but that
>> doesn't seem to be included in AOL's spam policies and would surely
>> result in most SMTP servers in the work being blacklisted by AOL!

I'm not privvy to how AOL does its blocking, but it is an adamant
antispam place, so sending multiple unwanted mails to them would be a
very bad idea.  I've seen blocked mail reports from AOL.  They block
individual IPs, they block domains, they block lots of things.

>> Pointers to resources such as AOL's policy would be helpful plus any
>> ideas, views or opinions. It would be intended that every message
>> would have a 'This message is not relevant to me/unsubscribe' link
>> plus of course full rDNS etc. would all work.

Nope;  having bad mailing list management cannot be solved by having
unsub information.  The only people who should ever use unsub
information is a person who subscribed in the first place.  You cannot
send unwanted mail to someone or to a spamtrap and expect it to unsub.
That mail will be reported as spam, you can't unsub the reporter or the
spamtrap, and you will get listed and your mail blocked.

You have to not send anyone mail which wasn't specifically requested by
them, and from you and for the specific purpose of the list;  not some
other purpose of some other list;  and which request was confirmed
verifiably by a unique token.

There are guidelines for the creating and management of mailing lists.
Here's one http://www.mail-abuse.com/an_listmgntgdlines.html Guidelines
for proper mailing list management


-- 
Mike Easter
kibitzer, not SC admin