EMBARRASSING TO THE LIST: Re: *WARNING* Your EmailAccount Will Be Closed

[Marco Colombo]

On Wed, 2005-06-01 at 09:42 -0400, Etienne Goyer wrote:
> Marco Colombo wrote:
> > On Tue, 2005-05-31 at 11:46 -0700, Jules Agee wrote:
> >>Seconded.
> >>info-cyrus is the only list I'm subscribed to that allows posting by
> >>non-subscribers. Maybe it's not a coincidence that it's also the only
> >>list that I get spam & viruses from on a regular basis.
> > 
> > This makes no sense. As I said before, it takes a close-to-zero effort
> > to forge headers. Subscribers-only or open, it's a matter of list
> > _policy_. It may have a minimal effect of reducing spam, but that's not
> > the point. If you want to stop spam, use a specific filter. Bypassing
> > the subscribers-only check is trivial.
> 
> What you are saying is technically correct.  But there is a caveat.  I 
> am subscribed to about two dozens list (more ? I lost count), and the 
> only one I am getting spam from is info-cyrus.  It's also the only one 
> that I aware permit posting by non-subscriber.  So there is a 
> correllation, but are there a causation ?  I do not know, it might be a 
> coincidence.  But it's one heck of a coincidence.

Interesting theories. But they seem to backfire on you, since, according
to Mr. Jeffrey T Eaton <jeaton at cmu.edu> this list _is_ closed:
"The list is not now, nor ever has been, open-posting.  Posting is
 restricted to subscribers, or to those users local to cmu.edu"

Then it must be one of those lists that let you configure your sending
address, which is good. I must have done that at subscription time, and
later forgot about it.

Anyway it doesn't make much a difference, as you can see. Open or close
is just a policy. If you think of it as an anti spam measure, it doesn't
work. Sometimes, even advanced measures fail.

Anyway, given that the list is restricted, there's no point in
discussing...
 
.TM.
-- 
      ____/  ____/   /
     /      /       /                   Marco Colombo
    ___/  ___  /   /                  Technical Manager
   /          /   /                      ESI s.r.l.
 _____/ _____/  _/                      Colombo at ESI.it

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