A Bit of Advice For The SPEWS Listed

I read news.admin.net-abuse.blocklisting and news.admin.net-abuse.email on a regular basis (and I post to NANAE as well.).  Many of the posts I see are people complaining about being blocked by SPEWS.  First of all, SPEWS isn’t blocking you.  The admin controlling the receiving mail server who’s using SPEWS is blocking you.  But that doesn’t mean that the world is coming to an end.  SPEWS doesn’t list ip addresses just for fun.  Usually the listing isn’t just against you.  It’s against spam-friendly Internet Providers who provide connectivity to spammers.  The understood modus operandi of SPEWS is to just first list the spammer, and then complain to the provider.  When the provider refuses to terminate the spammer, the listing escalates.  There are steps you can do:

• Scream Bloody Murder at your isp.  Get them to terminate the spammer who caused the listing to begin with.  If they do terminate the spammer, you’ll also find that other blocklisting issues (ie SORBS, and Spamhaus) will also go away.


• Take a look at the listing (you should have an spews record from the bounce message).  Occasionally, providers do nuke spammers without telling someone, and listing otherwise get outdated.  Post it to NANABl, and it may get delisted.


• If you’re don’t really send out that much email, you also can:


• Ask the person rejecting your mail to whitelist your ip address.  I myself use SPEWS, and I have done this on occasion.


• Just live with the reduced connectivity.


• Vote with your feet.  Find another provider who isn’t as spam-friendly.  And move there.  And make sure you tell your current provider why you’re leaving them.  SPEWS has been known to ‘punch holes’ in listings when people announce that they’re leaving spam-friendly providers.


• If none of the above will work, then think Smarthost.  Find a mail provider and use their outbound relays to send out your mail.  I personally use spamblocked, because the operator is a BOFH.  You can also try here to find an outbound mail relay.