[SpamCop-List] Re: Seeking Advice

[Mike Easter]

BMW wrote:

>  I'm not getting
> through the maze of these forums with a usable answer for me and my
> business.

Not forums.

Typically newsgroups are called newsgroups, and web based forums are
called forums.  While forums can be anything from newsgroups to old
fashioned bulletin boards to mailing lists -- in the context of spamcop,
there is a webforum community and an nntp newsgroup community.  This is
the nntp newsgroup community, the webforum community is over there ==>

> Please if you don't use the paid service, and you are not familiar
> with how it differs from the free service, Please don't muddy the
> waters with irrelevant responses.

Re Please

I'm sure anyone will comment who feels like it.  You are being the
muddying one.  Spamcop reporting comes in free and paid.  Spamcop mail
is always paid, never free, and the users of the spamcop mail system
have reporting facilitated for them.

> Things in my email world have to change. My current structure has
> things that work well and things that are seriously broken, with
> little prospect for a solution.

Then you should keep your ears open for suggestions.

> My structure - I have multiple domains at which I receive email, some
> of which are posted as contact info on my web sites (spam is a given
> in this situation).

There are a 'zillion' ways to publish easily mailable web addresses
without hanging naked mailto/s out there for the webbots to scrape up.
One site that has about half a zillion different demonstrated ways is
this one -- oops, the link isn't accessible right now for me to
finetune, so I'll get back to it later.

>  I need the new business so I'm unwilling to
> remove the email addresses from my web pages.

You should fix them so that they aren't naked mailto/s.    The link came
back up.  I'll put it at the bottom^1

>  SC collects mail from
> these domain POPs and places them in my "Held Mailbox".

You haven't actually described how SC gets the mail from some other
mailbox, but you used the word pop, so I'm going to assume that you are
popping them to spamcop rather than forwarding them.  When you forward,
there is an opportunity to exert some filtering influence by the
forwarding system.  And, actually it isn't SC which writes the rules for
things going to your held mailbox, but you.  That is, you tell SC how to
put things into your held mailbox.

> Also the
> mail that is sent directly to my spamcop.net account also goes into
> my Held Mail.

According to your own rules.

> If the mail "passes" through a filter it is moved to
> my Inbox.  My domain POPs offer filtering so that the
> "TeamAaronShara's" are easily controlled. BUT SC doesn't.

If you were forwarding instead of popping to SC you might be able to use
some of your domain's server's filtering.  Maybe.

> When I get
> these mail bombs it is very difficult and time consuming to sort
> through hundreds of messages in Held Mail looking for legit
> communications.

One of the advantages of using a whitelisting only system is that the
whitelisted mail is very 'clean'.  One of the disadvantages of using a
whitelisted only system is that if you get unknown unwhitelisted but
wanted mail, it is going to be all mixed up with tons of spam.  So as a
result you are going to be 'digging through' tons of spam to find your
uknown unwhitelisted.  You would be better off with a better
discriminatory system than whitelisted only if you are in the business
of getting unknown wanted mail.

The only people who can use whitelisted only easily are the people who
only get mail from their friends or mailing lists and not uknown wanted.
You aren't choosing a good strategy for your needs.

>The frustrating part is that SC doesn't offer any
> filter for the Held Mailbox, NO select by string, so mail sent
> directly to the spamcop address always ends up in the Held Mail NO
> MATTER What, and selection of the messages is all or individual
> clicks.

That's the part I have no comment on.

> I'm thinking I'm at least going to have to change my spamcop.net
> address. . . and not give it out to anyone (as inconvenient as that
>   is). Forcing all communications through my domain POP, were I have a
> fighting chance to mitigate the effects of the un-controllable.
>
> At the point were I'm ready to surrender my spamcop.net address I need
> to evaluate whether or not I need to continue to pay SC for an
>   account. There are lots of spam control competitors out there.

You are correct.

> I'm going to have to restructure, and I'm looking for ideas. . . Gotta
> get it right this time.


^1 http://spamlinks.net/prevent-spambots-hiding.htm

Generalised Hiders and Descriptions
Javascript Email Encoders
HTML Character Entities
CSS Encoding
Passive Web-based Scripts
Web-based Contact Pages
Other Methods
Manual Address Munging

-- 
Mike Easter
kibitzer, not SC admin