Re: lost post 26-Feb

---------

Balanone (Balanone@geocities.com)
Mon, 09 Mar 1998 12:38:11 -0800

Paul Theodoropoulos wrote:
>
> On Fri, 6 Mar 1998, Balanone wrote:
> > To Support@2xtreme.net: The problem appears to be that some/many FAQ posts
> > in the news.answers and other newsgroups are not reaching a variety of
> > sites, including ours. This FAQ is automatically posted by the news.answers
> > FAQ server. Though the FAQ apparently reached the central rtfm.mit.edu
> > archive, it did not reach our ISP in ANY of the newsgroups it posts to
> > (news.answers, alt.satanism, alt.magick, and alt.pagan are the ones I
> > personally subscribe to, and it did not appear in those four).
> >
> > There are several people complaining on the FAQ maintainers mailing list
> > that they're not seeing their FAQs, or seeing just one or two pieces of a
> > multi-post FAQ.
> >
> > Is there anything you can do at 2xtreme.net to help identify where the
> > transmission breakdown might be occuring?
>
> The assumption is incorrect. We are receiving the posts fine - We have
> about thirty news peers worldwide, so it's extraordinary for us to miss an
> article. However, the anti-spam-bot on our server is apparently tossing
> them, likely due to being cross-posted/multiple-posted to more than eight
> newsgroups with the identical message ID, Subject, and/or body.
>
> Our anti-spam-bot is not unique, in fact it is in widespread use -
> dejanews uses it, and you will similarly fail to find the article there.
> We would recommend that the author not post FAQs in a manner identical to
> how spammers are ruining USENET. Obviously, the author is not spamming nor
> intending to spam. However, as more sites around the net adopt reasonable
> and prudent anti-spam measures similar to our own, fewer sites will be
> able to enjoy these posts, as they'll be tossed, sight unseen. Post in
> batches of two or three at a time - no site blocks at that low a
> threshold.
>
> For more information on our spambot, visit www.spamhippo.com. Spamhippo
> does not filter for content; it only acts upon specific posting
> behaviours.
>
> We will not be changing our policy in this regard. The overwhelming
> majority of customers prefer the terrific reduction in spam that is
> afforded by this spambot.

Dear Mr. Theodoropoulos,

FAQs mailed by the news.answer FAQ server often have a low frequency (mine
goes out monthly) and low newsgroup count (mine goes to 7 newsgroups, two of
which are *.answers groups approved by the news.answers moderators, once a
month). From everything I understand concerning spam and automated methods
of spam control (which I fully approve of), this frequency and newsgroup
count should not result in a spam identification. Yet apparently it did.
Why?

On the other hand, today I found:

Path: news.ncal.verio.com! vncnews! HSNX.wco.com! usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu!
nntp.msen.com! newsfeeds.sol.net! news.mindspring.net! psinntp!
ix.netcom.com! news
From: Stephanie Howe <showe@brynmawr.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.irc, alt.magic, alt.life.internet, alt.manga, alt.models,
alt.mud, alt.music.pink-floyd, alt.noise, alt.pagan, alt.pantyhose,
alt.party, alt.paranormal, alt.prisons, alt.privacy, alt.psychoactives,
alt.sex, alt.sex.bestiality, alt.satanism, alt.scooter, alt.slack, alt.war,
alt.wired, alt.women.supremacy
Subject: hi everyone
Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 20:02:05 -0500
Organization: Bryn Mawr
Lines: 1
Message-ID: <35033F8D.4A46@brynmawr.edu>
Reply-To: showe@brynmawr.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: prv-ri1-14.ix.netcom.com

This post went to 23 newsgroups, obviously alphabetically chosen. It should
have been eliminated as spam, and was not.

You seem to need some improvement in your spambot. The tone of your email
seems to imply you consider your software to be working 100% perfectly, and
that the failure of valid, valuable, and reasonable FAQ informational posts
to get through are the fault of the posters for following common Usenet FAQ
posting methodology. Is this your position, or perhaps are you willing to
work with us to improve the operation of your software so perhaps valid FAQs
will be delivered, while irritating spam like the message above don't?

Balanone
PP

-- 
For information concerning the Temple of Set, visit the Temple 
of Set web site, http://www.xeper.org/pub/tos/index.html, and 
Balanone's Temple of Set FAQ & reference pages, 
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/4979/




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