I'm Guilty Until Proven Innocent

No doubt about it. nn"Spam" (unsolicited commercial email) threatens to nparalyze and ultimately destroy the email system as it ncurrently exists on the Internet. nnAnyone with an email address can attest to the fact that nthe avalanche of Spam has only increased in the last year nand shows no sign of stopping. nnHowever, the current system many Internet Service nProviders (ISP's) use to deal with Spam may just destroy nthe Internet's email system long before the spammers do. nnNow, I won't deny that the weight of the Spam on any nISP's resources can rate very significant. nnIt's been estimated that between 30-60% of all email now nsent is Spam! nnThis means that 30-60% and ISP's system resources n(bandwidth, hardware, and system maintenance) go towards ndelivering messages nobody wants to receive. nnOut of self-defense, many ISP's turn to third party nservices like Spam Cop, SPEWS (Spam Prevention Early nWarning System), and SpamHaus to help them identify nsources of spam and block the messages before their email nsystems get clogged. nnNo Trial - No Defense - Guilty! nnIn theory, it's a great system. nnIn practice, it creates a situation resembling a witch nhunt where the accused gets burned at the stake without a ntrial, let alone the ability to face their accuser. nHere's how the system works. nnLet's say a business habitually sends legitimate email to nits customers or prospects who asked to receive the nemail. nnAs long as nobody complains, life proceeds as normal. nnBut then let's say one of those people forgets they opted nin to the business's email list and reports an email nmessage as spam to one of the services I mentioned above. nnnResult: the business gets blacklisted by one or more of nthese services and ISP's in turn automatically block nemail (legitimate email) sent by the business to its ncustomers and opt-in subscribers. nnTo make matters even worse, nobody at these anti-spam nservices bothers to let the business know they've been nblacklisted. nnWhen the business finally discovers their status and ntries to contact Spam Cop, SPEWS or SpamHaus, the real fun nbegins. nnIf the business does discover which service(s) nblacklisted them, they'll find they can't call anyone on nthe phone to discuss the problem. nnThey also discover these services are totally unregulated nand there is no higher court of appeals. nnAny email responses from these services often contain a nsmug attitude of assumed guilt that scoffs at your claims nof innocence. nnAlso, don't bother asking for the opportunity to face nyour accuser in order to prove your innocence because nthey get to hide behind a cloak of anonymity. nnCombining this attitude of assumed guilt with the ninability to prove your innocence creates a recipe for ndisaster for every legitimate business. nnOh, by the way, while writing this article, I received 19 nspam email messages through an ISP monitored by all 3 nanti-spam services. nnMakes you wonder, doesn't it? nnIn the end, the current system only creates opportunity nfor abuse that targets legitimate businesses while the nreal spammers just merrily keep sending their flood of nemail.n