[SpamCop-List] Re: spamcop efficiency ????

[Andrew Engels Rump (formerly Leif Andrew Rump)]

After drinking 3 Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters, "Christian"
<clebaudy at netfinca.com> mumbled in news:cl03d4$cq9$1 at news.spamcop.net: 
> i am a recently user of spam cop, i find the idea great and since
> i am spammed (due certainly to a virus in some friends computer
> that gave all its adressbook to some spammer) i wanted to report
> spam.

Yeah! That is a well known example of getting e-mail addresses
exposed! :-(

> I said to myself that if it has a consequence on the amount of
> spam i receive each day i will be happy to pay and contribute to
> spam cop efforts. 

Great, then you should do that and experience what SpamCop can do
for you and what you can do for SpamCop - but don't expect to get
rid of spam! :-( And if you think your time could be used better
somewhere else - go there! By using SpamCop you are supporting a
huge fight against spam using technology - with ease compared to
manual reporting.

The Register has an article about the power of reporting "illegal
material" on the internet - we actually have so much power that
we have to be carefull what we report! :-)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/14/isp_takedown_study/ refer
to http://www.bof.nl/docs/researchpaperSANE.pdf

> BUT, i used it for 2 or 3 weeks, reporting each day each spam and
> now i am sure to get twice as spam as before.

SpamCop tries to munch your reports (if not disabled), but it is
not foolproof. But also your own handling of spam may get yourself
exposed! Tread spam as if it was a virus!

> ...
> The result is : now i can't even report them (your stupid
> interface makes me wait), even if i submit per mail i have a
> confirmation email with and http link to click. If you think i am
> going to click 160 times and wait http to respond then you are
> really stupid.

Do you use the free service (with the nag-screen)? That interface
only works for a few spammail per day. Without the nag-screen you
may handle a few more every day - unless you want to take the
chance with quick-reporting - don't - the chance of getting
yourself reported is too big! It all cost money but it is well
worth it - and if you go the whole way and pay $30 a year you get
a virtually spamfree mailbox!!! It is worth any penny!

You may call the interface stupid, but SpamCop is a webbased
reporting system and HTML has it's limitations. I think the
interface is working quite well. I've had to program my own
system to report the 500+ spammails I receive every a day,
but report a small selection and forget about the rest!

> I don't known if your intention is good but i know that the result
> is bad, i won't pay anything till i am not sure it works. I would
> like to discuss with spamcop administrator (in www.spamcop.com
> there is no form or email like the "contact us" typical form of
> each respectable site). 

You must surely mean spamcop.net (spamcop.com is a spammer-site!!!)

I have been with spamcop.net for several years now and I "know"
that the intentions are working for the good against the evil.

You could e-mail support<at>spamcop.net - I hope the address is
correct - SpamCop have to hide their addresses for obvious reasons.

But I would suggest that you discuss your ideas with the SpamCop
users using this newsgroup or the forum http://forum.spamcop.net/.

Please consider that a "shoot and forget"-system fails because
too many people will report anything including legimit mails!
SpamCop's interface gives you all the information you need to
make sure that you are reporting genuin spam!

Andrew
-- 
*** The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer. ***
* Software Engineer Andrew Engels Rump * BLIK og ROERarbejderforbundet *
* Immerkaer 42, 2650 Hvidovre * Tlf: +45 3638 3638, Fax: +45 3638 3639 *
Home: N55°41'38.9" E12°29'08.6" (WGS 84) Work: N55°39'50.9" E12°27'47.4"
E-mail: mailto:newandrew at rump.dk WWW http://www.rump.dk/homepage/andrew/