Best of the ISP-Lists

The Difference Between Baby and Bathwater

Members of the ISP-Security list discuss rules that ISPs use to prevent spam. Although it's vitally important to prevent spam, ISPs also need to avoid throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

[July 24, 2001]

On the ISP-Security list in June, JT inquired,

"According to my ISP, it's common industry practice to limit e-mail distribution lists to under ten email addresses. Is this true?

I am a residential dialup user, and just recently, I started getting error messages saying I had too many addresses in my distribution list. I contacted my ISP's tech support, and their response was, 'We don't allow bulk mail.' The 'bulk mail' group I was sending to was just ten of my friends."

A number of respondents contended that this kind of restriction is necessary:

[SC noted] "Although I can't say there are a lot of ISPs who do this, I know that my network and many other networks do limit this."

[MS added] "I don't have any customers with email lists. If I did, I would certainly keep an eye on how many there were. If I got even one spam complaint about a customer, I'd drop them completely from my system."

[KF agreed] "While ten may be a bit too restrictive, limiting the number of addresses in a bulk mail is common."

BL suggested that a freer attitude would make much more sense:

"Find a new ISP. There's anti-spam, and there's paranoid. This one is paranoid. I'd shut you down in a heartbeat if I got a traceable spam complaint against you-but a cc to ten people and you're considered a spammer? Puhleeze…"

PP advised simply raising the limit a little to separate the spam from the jokes:

"We used to outsource our e-mail, and the vendor put a ten-copy limit on it. I received a lot of complaints from the customers; most people have a personal mailing list of more than ten people. From what I can tell, most of these e-mails contain jokes. I believe a limit of fifty users rather than ten will block out real spammers and not bother your paying customers. Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater."

— End

 

Related articles:
	[Jun. 22, 2001]	Anti-Spam Best Practice: Put Personal Politics Aside
	[Jan. 20, 2001]	Groups Clash Over Hotmail Spam Filters
	[Aug. 11, 2000]	Spam v. Profit