Re: [council] FW: Doing something about dnsipv6 (Re: [ga] Result of PGPkeyexperiment)

[Nigel Roberts <nigel@nic.gg>]

I have send repeated complaints to abuse@aol.com
which have been met with a deafening silence.

Not a good recommendation.

Nigel Roberts
ICANN Names Council Member 
ccTLD constituency

Richard Lindsay wrote:
> 
> Greetings all,
> 
> Since interQ is also an ISP we have (unfortunately) a great deal
> of experience with SPAM.  There is no easy solution to these
> kinds of problems, and filters can easily be spoofed, or avoided.
> Before I start, I want to reiterate that Elisabeth has been
> doing a fantastic job, which is filled with a LOT of stress.
> I know it is not fun!
> 
> Some random thoughts:
> 
> 1.  As much as possible, we should avoid limiting free access
> to the DNSO mailing lists - this should be one of our primary
> objectives.  If the individuals responsible succeed in forcing us
> to significantly limit the lists, they have achieved their objective.
> 
> 2.  Most of the people signed up to the list are intelligent enough
> to determine that there are some posters who have histories of
> abuse, and who's very existence is questionable.  In order to help
> a "self policing" style on the lists, it might be worthwhile to
> set up a special interface to list abuses, and users who have
> been censured.  This strategy may induce a "shame factor"
> such that borderline posters may police their activities.  Also
> it would serve as information for new users to confirm which
> members might be better left ignored.
> 
> 3.  The ISP that has issued the email address is generally the
> first to receive complaints about sending of SPAM.  Each member
> should not report to his or her ISP that he is getting unwanted
> mail.  If the mail address comes from AOL, then AOL should
> receive the complaint.  Most ISP's have fairly strict AUP (Acceptable
> Use Policies) that specifically forbid users from sending SPAM.
> If the account comes from Hotmail or Yahoo Mail, it is much
> more difficult to combat, as those accounts can be registered
> for instantaneously with no cost involved.
> 
> 4.  Much of the bogus email discussed about dnsipv6 is not being
> sent to the list, but to individual email addresses, the listserve
> administrator cannot do anything (except advise us of possible
> courses of action.)  Once again, since this is an AOL account,
> a claim should be made to AOL.  They will deal with it.
> 
> 5.  Proactive measures to combat SPAM are very hard to keep
> current, and are not scalable.  It is an unfortunate, but unavoidable
> fact that the DNSO will have to live with some level of SPAM and
> bogus postings.  We are not going to be able to come up with
> innovative systems that ISPs and mailing list servers have failed
> to come up with.  I feel Elisabeth's pain, we have to go through
> these non-productive activities on a regular basis, and it is
> not fun.  However, this is just one aspect of the Internet.
> 
> Just some thoughts,
> Richard
> 
> "Chicoine, Caroline" wrote:
> 
> > Can people please reflect and comment on this before Wednesday's
> > meeting.  We have a discussion on the ga on the agenda and we can have a
> > final discussion and take a vote then?  Also, I believe Louis is on this
> > list (if not, Elisabeth can you forward this to him).  Louis, will you
> > be able to make our call and if so, would you mind speaking for a couple
> > of minutes regarding your thoughts and recommendations on this issue.
> > To the extent that you can put them in an email before our meeting, that
> > would be great.
> >
> > Personally, I think it sounds like a good idea.  However, I believe that
> > the people that are receiving the unsolicited emails should ultimately
> > be fighting this battle (since the emails are not being directed to the
> > list).  I think it is important that people realize that they
> > voluntarily subscribe and participate in these lists at their own risk.
> > Nevertheless, we also need to let them know that when we are advised of
> > problems, we will do everything we can to help remedy it.  At a minimum,
> > I think we should send out an alert to the ga list advising users of
> > this problem and advising them to contact their ISPs if they are
> > encountering such problems.  Perhaps we should have our own "abuse"
> > address to which people can report such problems (maybe this is biting
> > off more than we can chew, just a thought)
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Caroline
> 
> --
> _/_/_/interQ Incorporated
> _/_/_/System Division
> _/_/_/Director and General Manager
> _/_/_/Richard A. S. Lindsay