Don't Be A Spam Artist!

One of the hottest discussion topics going around the web these days is Spam. Spam is different things to different people, but basically it is sending email advertisements to anyone who did not request them or give permission to send them.

I do not consider an email from an acquaintance telling me something they think might interest me- spam. I do not consider people telling me about their business and asking for advice-spam. I do not consider advertisements from companies I have asked about-spam. I do not consider an invitation from a publisher to join their opt-in list-spam. However, these invitations should not be sent out in mass mailings.

There are, however, many things that I do consider to be spam. Unfortunately, when I first started on the Internet, I was guilty of spam once or twice. It does not necessarily make me a bad person, just an uninformed one. Now that I know what is considered to be spam and what is not, I would never in any way, shape or form become a Spam Artist!

These are some things to avoid doing:

* Sending your ad to any email you come across - SPAM! Do NOT send your ad to anyone unless they have asked for information, or if they have joined your opt-in list.

* Joining every discussion and announcement list you can find and sending your ad every few hours - SPAM! When you join these email lists, they will send you an email with their guidelines for posting. Please read and follow these guidelines carefully.

* Subscribing to an ezine and then replying to the ezine with your ad - SPAM! This is one way to get yourself removed from a lot of good lists. If you receive an ezine, do not reply with one of your ads.

* Buying email address lists and blasting your ad-SPAM! Most of the people on these lists probably do not even know they are on them. Therefore, you do not have their permission to send your ads.

* Adding people to your opt-in list without their permission - SPAM! Inviting people to join your list is one thing, but adding them without permission is a definite NO-NO.

* Visit every board you can, leave an ad and never come back - SPAM! Message boards have specific rules for posting and are usually for people to discuss and learn from each other, not for posting ads.

If you are unsure as to whether something is spam or not, visit some boards and ask other more experienced netpreneurs. It is better to be sure than to be accused of spam. Join some discussion lists also, to learn more about spam and what you should or should not do.

Message Boards:

http://www.free-publicity.com/cgi-bin/talk.cgi http://www.bizweb2000.com/wwwboard/ http://start-smartz.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi#post

Discussion Groups:

mailto:pubsonly-subscribe@topica.com mailto:Newbies911-subscribe@topica.com mailto:epub-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Visit these sites for more information on what spam is, what to do about it and how to avoid it:

http://w3.one.net/~banks/spam.htm http://www.arachnoid.com/lutusp/antispam.html http://www.spamfree.org/ http://stopspam.sparklist.com/

Be cautious of the way you conduct your business. Some people are tolerant of spam (if you are not a repeat or offensive spammer) and will just hit the delete button, but some will report anything they think is spam.

Do some research on spam and how not to become a Spam Artist!

Terri Seymour owns and operates MyOwnEzine.com MyOwnEzine.com is a website, ezine and service which provides the resources, tools, guidance and more to help you start, publish and promote your own ezine. You can contact Terri at mailto:ter02@newnorth.net Subscribe at mailto:subscribe@myownezine.com or visit http://www.myownezine.com for lots more info.

The Misconceptions of Spam Filters

Unfortunately there are a lot of people online that all have many misconceptions regarding Spam Filters. Today I'm going to answer some questions that people have asked me about my "Spam column" for DEMC Small Business Ezine regarding them. With regards to spam filters, one can never have enough knowledge, so I do hope that this article will clear up any misconceptions that you may have.

1. Don't spam filters ONLY apply to those who have NOT opted in?

This is indeed a very sad misconception, Spam Filters do affect EVERYONE who sends and receives email in some way or another. Whether you publish a FREE ezine OR a PAID ezine, it does not matter, if it is being sent by email it affects YOU. The biggest problem with filters is that they have NO way to detect that the email message is in fact "Optin", they actually base it on your headers.

Should you use a third party list server, your chances of being filtered are even greater, because of that reason. And this is how ALL filtering is based: By looking at the headers in your email message, by using a point system based on the contents in your subject line as well as the body.

This can also be done by subscribing to a blacklist service that will provide them with a list of domains or hosts that have been identified as being used by spammers -such as http://www.spamhaus.org or http://mail-abuse.org/ AOL, Verizon and Accessus are widely known for using services such as these. It should also be known that spam filtering programs MAY also subscribe to these services, some do and some do not.

2. I heard that spam filters don't apply to autoresponders, is this true?

Actually they do, because if you send email using a third party list server, and put your FROM email address in the field rather than a FROM address on the third party's list server - the spam filter will read it as being a "falsified" email address or header. Because REAL spammers do it all of the time.

3. Spam Filters do not target HTML ezines because they can't read the code properly, is this true?

Yes in fact they do, some more so than text ezines, this is because HTML ezines are considered to be more virus prone. And NOT all list servers and email clients "clean" their email before it is sent. Meaning, even if you do not have a virus on your computer, your ezine can still pick one up during the process of sending through your list server. This has been known to happen on "high traffic" list servers as well as FREE list servers, such as Yahoo Groups.

3. Aren't spam filters ONLY used by large ISP's?

Although it is very true that the majority of larger ISP's use Spam Filters (such as: AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, Mindspring, Verizon, Accessus, Sympatico etc.) you will find a lot of smaller ISP's use them as well. For instance, my ISP has only 900 customers and they do use them, although I've made it quite clear they are unacceptable on my account. The most "popular program' that ISP's use is called Spam Assassin.

I hope this article has cleared up any misconceptions that you may have had regarding Spam Filters. You can learn more detailed information about Spam filters by visiting: http://spamassassin.org/tests.html

Laurie Rogers is co-author of the Ezine Resource Guide, you can check it out at: http://www.zineadz.com/erg.html She is the owner of Optin Frenzy a list building program for ezine publishers http://www.optinfrenzy.com You can also obtain Laurie's articles at: mailto:ezinearticles@optinfrenzy.com

Coping With Spam Accusations

More and more publishers are consistently getting accused of spamming. Whether there is any truth to some of these accusations is yet to be seen, however in MOST instances these accusations are nothing but a complete farce! We as publishers seem to get picked on MORE so than anyone else online. I am not certain as to WHY exactly that is, but we do.

All in all what it boils down to is ABSENT minded people who go around signing up for "programs, products and services" and don't bother to pay ATTENTION to what it is that they are getting themselves into. Is this YOUR fault? NO it's not but, for some reason these people like to think that it is. Instead of them taking RESPONSIBILIY for their OWN actions, they bear the grudge on to us -the publisher.

Almost EVERY single publisher I know (I know hundreds) has at one point been FALSELY accused of spamming. I have seen publishers lose their web hosts, their ISP's and their ENTIRE businesses in a blink of an eye in the past 3 years. All of which took place, because some "MORON" forgot they subscribed. Today I am going to give a few tips on HOW to avoid this from happening to you, but in some instances you MUST realize it's absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to avoid.

1.) Make copies of EVERY subscription request that you receive. Get into the routine of saving them to disk, every day before you close up "shop" for the evening. There is currently NO system that is absolutely, 100% "fool proof", always keep that in mind. Every evening, I go directly to my listserver and copy ALL of my subscription requests and unsubscription requests. I put them into my text editor and copy it disc.

2.) As soon as someone cries "SPAM" send them a copy of their request with FULL headers in tact. And if possible tell them WHERE it was EXACTLY that they got on your list. It will save YOU a lot of hassle in dealing with them.

3.) Record their IP Address, you do not have to tell them that you are doing it, but do it. Although IP Adresses CAN be forged, if they are not aware that you ARE doing it, the chances are it will be REAL. If you do NOT know how to do this, just copy and paste this code into your subscription form. Copy - input type=hidden name="env_report" value= "Remote_host,Remote_Addr"

4.) Make all fields on your form REQUIRED and if someone has a FISHY looking email address, don't add them to your list. Here is the code necessary for making all of your fields required. input type=hidden name="required" value="first name,lastname,email"

5.) If they persist that your ezine is "SPAM", your best bet is to contact your ISP and web host immediately. Make them aware of the situation and also forward them a copy of the persons subscription request (with full headers) and ALL correspondence with the complainant (full headers). In most cases your ISP will appreciate your honesty and nothing will come of it, even if the person DOES complain.

6.) My last bit of advice is, try to maintain a good working relationship with your ISP and web host. Both my ISP and web hosts are all well aware of what I do online, they also know I take ALL of the precautions that I can in respect to my businesses. Over the past few years I have gotten to know them on a "personal" level - which is nothing but a BENEFIT to me in the long run, should a situation such as this should arise. And I encourage you to do the same ;o)

If you have been falsely accused of spamming or are now being blocked because of it, you CAN fight back! Go to: http://www.e-crucible.org and file your complaint, as there is a pending lawsuit against "Anti-Spammers", ISP's and hosts that utilize these programs.

Laurie Rogers is co-author of the Ezine Resource Guide, you can check it out at: http://www.zineadz.com/erg.html She is the owner of Optin Frenzy a list building program for ezine publishers http://www.optinfrenzy.com You can also obtain Laurie's articles at: mailto:ezinearticles@optinfrenzy.com

Anti Spam Fanatics ARE RUINING YOUR Business!

Many marketers online are seriously doubting that "Anti-
Spam Fanatics" are ruining thier businesses. I have a
bit of news for you, IF YOU currently hold that "mindset",
it is time for a rude awakening! Not only are they killing
newsletters and ezines with a variety of filtering software
programs, they're also black listing domains, ISP's and
web hosts.

Don't think so you say? Check out a few of these sites:
http://mailwww.cern.ch/spam/SpamDomains.html or
http://www.spamhaus.org or this http://mail-abuse.org/
Better yet, go to a search engine type in "Spam Filters"
you will be amazed at how many listings there are. Now
what exactly do these sites do?

They collect Domain, Hosting and ISP information and
BLACKLIST it. For instance, if a domain, ISP or hosting
company has a lot of "spammers" as clients, they'll then
put that company on a "Blacklist". So that ANY person
(guilty or innocent) using that ISP, Domain or Web Host
can NOT send any email what so ever to certain parties.

Now incase you didn't get that, I'll explain it in a simpler
form. Let's say you own domain @xyz.com and you are
trying to send an email to @abc.com, BUT @abc.com
uses M.A.P.S ( http://mail-abuse.org/ ) to block out any
"spammers" from reaching their clients. Now, let's say
your Web Host had a few "spammers" on their servers
at one point, guess what? You will NOT be able to send
any email to @abc.com!

Did everyone get that? Even if YOU are innocent, YOU
are really GUILTY, because of some MORON'S idiocy!
YOU are NOW going to pay the price for "anyone" who
spammed from your ISP (the bigger they are, the more
chance of that happening). Anyone who spammed from
your Web Host. And if anyone owned @xyz.com before
you did, you also get to "pay the piper" for their actions.

If you use a third party service to mail out your ezine or
newsletter and their company is blacklisted, well guess
what? Some people just won't be receiving it anymore!
I actually found that out, when I used a well known third
party ezine delivery service. And upon consulting them
about this, I ended up cancelling my account due to the
lack of company concern about the situation.

Thinking about registering that domain name? Or are
you going to jump on some fantastic web hosting deal?
Or are you contemplating switching ISP's for a better
rate? Or considering using a Third Party Service for
mailing out your ezine? Better think again and do your
history on them all, because the Anti-Spam Fanatics
ARE making business online a Living NIGHTMARE!

If you have been falsely accused of spamming or are
now being blocked because of it, you CAN fight back!
Go to: http://www.e-crucible.org and file your complaint,
as there is a pending lawsuit against "Anti-Spammers",
ISP's and hosts that utilize these programs.

Laurie Rogers is co-author of the Ezine Resource Guide, you
can check it out at: http://www.zineadz.com/erg.html She
is the owner of Optin Frenzy a list building program for ezine
publishers http://www.optinfrenzy.com You can also obtain
Laurie's articles at: mailto:ezinearticles@optinfrenzy.com

Knock Out Spam With the One-Two Punch

Are you sick of spam relentlessly spewing into your emailbox? So was I, until I learned how to knock it out, or at least slow it down, with my one-two punch. Do both of these things, neither of which will cost you a penny, and enjoy a distinct decrease in the amount of garbage in your inbox.

Here we go:

1 Mail Washing

First, hit the spam with Mailwasher, available free at www.mailwasher.net. This easy to set up little program lets you preview email before downloading it. You see all the usual details - sender, subject, size - but with one big difference: you can decide BEFORE downloading if you want it.

You get, I&39;m sure, many emails that you wouldn&39;t have downloaded if only you&39;d known what was in them. That&39;s just one thing Mailwasher can do for you. Its real power is in its ability to &39;bounce&39; unwanted messages (spam) right back to the person who sent it, marked &39;message undeliverable.&39;

To the spammer it looks as if your e-mail address is no longer active, and hopefully, the next time they &39;clean&39; their list, your email address will fall off. But even if it doesn&39;t, Mailwasher adds the spammer&39;s address to a blacklist. The next time they spam you, it&39;s already marked for deletion. (You can always unmark it.)

When you&39;re finished &39;washing&39; your mail of spam and unwanted downloads, click &39;process mail&39; and whatever messages are left will be downloaded as usual when you log on through your e- mail program, which you can do directly from MailWasher.

I have over 20 email addresses, so you can imagine the flood of spam that poured in my mailbox every day. Now I run them all through Mailwasher first, and it has made a huge difference.

To further reduce spam, Mailwasher has another trick that your regular email program doesn&39;t. It learns. There are all kinds of settings, filters, sorts and alerts. The more you use it, the more it learns what you do and don&39;t want to see. It does lots of stuff that I haven&39;t even tried yet. But for what I need - quick and dirty spam elimination - it does great.

Best of all, it&39;s free to try. If you like it, the author asks that you pay him whatever you think is fair. How much you pay him is up to you, but the funds go to future development of the product. Considering how useful this program is, I think that&39;s a very worthy cause.

2: Email Encoding

Once you&39;ve got Mailwasher going, you&39;re on your way to getting off the spam lists. To stay off, don&39;t skip this second step!

One of the ways that spammers get your email address is through harvesting programs that crawl the net snatching email addresses off of websites, message boards, newsgroups. Anywhere they can find something that looks like an email address, they grab it. And the way that they know it&39;s an email address is by looking for &39;mailto&39; or the &39;@&39; symbol.

There are programs available - also free - that will encode your email address for you. This converts your ASCII email address into its equivalent decimal entity. For example, the letter "a" equates to: "a" (without the quotes), the letter "b" equates to: "b", and so forth.

Here&39;s an example of an email address:

"johndoe@ someserv er.com"

which appears as: johndoe@someserver.com

To make the link clickable, you need to include the HREF tag, i.e.

"
nospam@my server.co m"

which appears as: nospam@myserver.com

Try it. Copy either of those expressions (WITHOUT the quotes), save it in an HTML file, and open it in your browser. It looks and acts just like any other email link, but the spam bots only see numbers and characters.

Here are a few free email encoders:

(JavaScript
utility)

(JavaScript
utility, doesn&39;t include HREF tag)

(emails the results to
you)

Encoded e-mail addresses can be read and translated back into the original ASCII text by almost any web browser, so you can use encoding wherever you can use HTML. I&39;ve replaced regular email links with encoded links on all of my websites.

Unfortunately not all forums will let you use HTML. In those cases, you&39;ll have to rely on putting the NOSPAM in your email address, or using only "throwaway" email addresses such as from Yahoo or hotmail when posting to public places. Another trick: spell out your email address, i.e. my email address is "sharon at geolocal.com" or "sharon at geolocal dot com." Not as good as being encoded and clickable but better than nothing.

Of course, spammers are a clever bunch. Whatever we come up with, they&39;ll find a way around. Pretty soon they&39;ll probably program their nasty spam bots to translate encoded emails for them.

The only answer for that is to replace email links with an IMAGE of your email address. Only human eyes can see that an image is an email address, so it can&39;t be harvested. But, *don&39;t* link the image to your email address unless it&39;s encoded - that would defeat the purpose, which is to make your email address unreadable by the spam bots.

The downside is that human eyes will have to manually type your address to send you an email. Unfortunately, that includes people you WANT to hear from. There&39;s no way around that. Hopefully one day we won&39;t need to go to such lengths to avoid what has become the scourge of the internet.

So, to summarize:

1) use Mailwasher to delete and bounce spam, which hopefully will get you dropped from spam lists, and

2) encode your email address on web pages and other places where it can be harvested. Try the one-two punch and see if it works for you. If nothing else, it will give you the satisfaction of knowing spammers are getting useless messages in their mailboxes too.

Sharon Fling is the author of "How To Promote Your Local Business On the Internet", and publishes an electronic newsletter that gives business owners tips, tools and resources for targeting local customers. For more information, visit http://www.geolocal.com or send a blank email to: subscribe@localbizpromo.com?subject=TRAART

How DO Spammers Get Your Email Address?

How DO Spammers Get Your Email Address?

As much as I try to stem the seemingly endless flow of spam, the crap just keeps arriving my Inbox.

For example, this week I received "New affiliate programs from 2004-02-10 to 2004-02-14 :: Subscription from http://WeAreBlahBlahBlah.net".

I'd never heard of WeAreBlahBlahBlah.net, let alone subscribed to the newsletter. But the address used explained exactly how the spammer reached me.

I've set up numerous 'special' addresses for customers, affiliates, subscribers, merchant partners and others.

For example, if I join XYZ's affiliate program, I might set up XYZ@nptinfo.com and give that address to them to contact me. If I suddenly start to receive spam at that address, then I know EXACTLY who the 'leaky' culprit is.

Here are other ways spammers get your address.

Web Pages

Spammers use scavenger bots, programs that 'harvest' email addresses contained in "mailto:" HTML tags. Those are clickable email links that open your email program with the address already placed in the "To" field.

Web Forms

Some sites request various details via forms, e.g. guest books & registration forms. Spammers get email addresses from these because the form is publicly available on the web, or because the webmaster sells the list.

Paper (Offline) Forms

Some companies sell lists of addresses obtained from convention participants or contest entrants.

Whois Searches

Unless the domain registrant has paid an additional fee to make their registration private, a simple Whois lookup reveals the registrant's address.

Although most registrars have enhanced the security of their WHOIS databases, by requiring a special code be entered before information is displayed, many spammers take the time and trouble to grab addresses this way.

From Web Browsers

Some sites use various tricks to extract a surfer's email address from the web browser, sometimes without the surfer noticing it.

Chat Rooms

This is another major source of email addresses for spammers, especially as this is one of the first public activities newbies join, making it easy for spammers to harvest 'fresh' addresses.

Sending Test Messages

Have you ever sent a message to an invalid address? You get an 'undeliverable' or 'failure' notice back.

Some spammers use this to guess email addresses by sending test messages to a list of made-up or guessed addresses. They know they've got good addresses for those that did not result in failure messages.

Online Yellow Pages

What could be more alluring to a spammer than a directory of names and email addresses filed by category?

Chain Letters

These are ingenious. I tell five friends, and my friends each tell five of their friends, and so on and so forth. The email addresses all build up in the cc field and are a spammers delight.

Buying Lists

Spammers buy lists of email addresses usually passed off as those belonging to people who opted-in to to obtain information in a specific category.

Let's put spammers out of business.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Use 'throw-away' addresses whenever you're not sure of the source, and don't sign up unless there are clear 'Privacy' statements on the site.

If worse comes to worse, and you're fighting your way through a mountain of spam, install anti-spam software on your computer.

Article by Rosalind Gardner, author of the best-selling "Super Affiliate Handbook: How I Made $436,797 in One Year Selling Other People's Stuff Online". To learn how you too can suceed in Internet and affiliate marketing, go to:

http://hop.clickbank.net/?nathanoct/webvista2

Rosalind Gardner is one of the top affiliate marketers in the world. In January 1997, Rosalind Gardner received her first 'web check' and hasn't looked back since. Trading her career as an air traffic controller for full-time netpreneurship in early 2000, her various internet projects now entertain and inform millions of visitors annually. She offers this article with YOU in mind, knowing that if she can earn a good living online, YOU can too.

Spammers - Where do They Come Up With This Stuff?

Lets face it we all get spammed and it drives us nuts! If it were not for folders, I would probably NEVER find my "legitmate" email. I probably do NOT get as much spam as most people do, but when I do get it, boy do I get it! I especially love it when people come by and spam my paid list building site, little do they know that I have several ways of finding out WHO they are ;o)

When it comes right down to it though, sometimes you really have to laugh at some of the garbage they send. According to spammers not only do I need viagra, I also need an enlargement for a body part I don't even have. I some how also managed to request this information at one of their sites, not once, but 200 freakin' times.

We all have our incoherent days, but I think I would at least get the drift after the first 100 times. And really now, like I am going to send a spammer my credit card info in an email! Like I said, we all have our incoherent days, but I am sure as heck NOT that darn incoherent at ANY time. Even if a web site doesn't use a "secure" server -I'm NOT buying and there's no two ways about it, let alone in an email.

Seriously, like how stupid do these people really think we are? "Laurie how would you like to harvest millions of email addresses a day?" Whoo-Hoo! I better jump right on that one, so my web host can shut me down and I can lose EVERYTHING I've worked so hard for in the last 3 plus years. Yeah I will get right on that one.

"I saw your site and got your email." Really? So what did it look like? Because last time I checked there was NO site for that email address you moron. And if there was - WHO said you could email me?

What really makes me laugh is in the body of the email it reads, "Would you like to start a home business?" You just told me you went to my site, obviously you would know I ALREADY have a business! In fact, I have four of them so you may want to head back there that way you can learn the REAL way to market online.

This last little episode really gave me a good chuckle, I got spammed by some person claiming I requested the information (a private email address). So, I reported it to the program owner and to the autoresponder service that they were using (which is owned by a good friend of mine). The program owner allowed the person to state their "case" and forwarded me a copy of their response.

This was their reply - "I'm not certain where I received that email address from. I used to buy email addresses, but I don't do that anymore. I have been marketing now for over two years and NEVER had a spam complaint, so I'm really appalled at this acusation. I have had 4 of my ISP accounts shut down, because maybe the people were offended by the ad copy. The person who sent you this complaint MUST be someone I have previously been in contact with because that is the only way to get on my list."

Sheesh, I wonder WHO the LIAR is in this case? There's nothing like a contradictive statement to hang yourself out to dry. In this case the person should have just came right out and said, "Yeah, I harvested her email address", instead of talking in circles and digging themselves into a DEEPER hole. The great Homer Simpson once said, "DOH"! (but hey at least he admits to doing something STUPID!)

Laurie Rogers - co-author Ezine Resource Guide you can view at http://www.zineadz.com/erg.html You can also obtain more of Laurie's articles at: mailto:ezinearticles@optinfrenzy.com Laurie is also the owner of Optin Frenzy - list building program for ezine and newsletter publishers. http://www.optinfrenzy.com

Anti-Spam Two Step for Webmasters

If your email address is on a website that's been online for a while you're being blasted with unsolicited email (SPAM). You can delete it or you can eliminate much of it in two simple steps.

Step 1: Scramble Your Email Address

It isn't human visitors to your site that are causing the problem. It's website spidering SPAMBOTS. These spambots go out on the web and harvest any email address they can find. These harvested email addresses are then sold by unscrupulous *spam pushers*.

Your goal is to hide your email address from the spambots, but still display it for your website visitors to see. If the spambot doesn't recogize your scrambled code as an email address it won't harvest it.

Search the web for scripts that will scramble your email address. You will find many free scripts and some that you can purchase. Some are simple and easy to install. Others can be a little more complicated.

The one that I like is called EScrambler. It is a free script developed by InnerPeace.org. You can visit their site and copy the source code (permission given on the site). Or, go to http://www.webdesignwisdom.com/escrambler.shtml.

This simple script generates a javascript that scrambles your email address. Just copy the script and paste it in your HTML instead of the normal mailto:me@mydomain.com. Your email address is displayed properly for visitors to see, and the HTML looks like anything but an email address.

An example of *me@mydomain.com* in escrambled form:

Step 2: Send Spam to Your Auto-Delete Account

Now, just because you've scrambled your email address, that doesn't keep all spammers from sending email to you. Some will just use something like *anything*@yourdomain.com because they understand that most websites have email forwarding. Anything that is emailed to your domain will be forwarded to an email address you specified.

You never have to see this email if you forward it to another email address that automatically deletes it.

You will need a free email account that offers some simple anti-spam features to use as your *dump account*.

You must be able to designate email addresses from which you will not accept any email. You may already have an account that can handle it. If not, look into Mail.com or Lycos.com.

Then make your free email dump account the default forwarding address in your website's email handler. Go to your free email account and set it to reject all mail received from YOUR domain.

Then have email that is sent to your published email addresses (those you have scrambled on your site) forwarded to your normal forwarding address. Or, set them up as individual POP accounts if your hosting service offers this feature.

Now you will receive email from your website visitors who actually read your email address on your website and all other email will be deleted.

This is a very effective way to get rid of most spam that is generated from your domain. It won't eliminate all of it. The volume of spam that I was receiving decreased by 90-95% after I made these changes.

This tactic will work for sites that have been online with an unprotected email address too. Change the email address on your site to a different scrambled address. Forward all email that is sent to your old posted address to your dump account.

If you've been using your primary email address on your site, you'll need to notify everyone that your email address has changed. This makes it more difficult, but worth the effort if you're being slammed with spam.

Thomas Benton is the owner of WebDesignWisdom.com and the publisher of Active-eBuilder, The Do-It-Yourself Web Design and Internet Marketing Ezine. Visit Tom's resource-rich website: http://www.webdesignwisdom.com

New Spam Prevention Product that Works

Businesses and consumers are drowning in a never-ending deluge of Spam (junk
mail) according to reports just released by Quris, Inc. Spam has increased
450% from June of 2001 to now. Furthermore, 70% of respondents indicated they
are receiving so much e-mail in the form of Spam that its negating their
acceptance and responsiveness to legitimate opt-in e-mail messages (permission
based). The average business user is forced to spend 20-30 minutes a day wading
through Spam clogged e-mail in-boxes trying to separate legitimate e-mail from
the junk in order to delete the latter.

Many companies have tried to offer Spam solutions that are based primarily on
filtering technology. But, most of these products and services have not worked
well in practice the ingenious spammers have learned work arounds by
constantly changing their fake e-mail addresses and text to avoid the blocking
filters. Its been a war of attrition to date and the spammers have been wining
so far!

I am pleased to report that one company has developed an elegant but simple
solution that has blocked 100% of the Spam that was sent to me during a test
period of five days. The company is DigiPortal Software, Inc. www.digiportal.com
and their Spam killer application is called ChoiceMail. It works extremely well,
is easy to setup and only costs $29.95 (introductory price) and they even offer
a fourteen-day trial period for no charge to test drive the product. And, the
solution runs on your desktop and does not necessitate your working with a third
party server and doesnt require any service charges. Most importantly, it puts
the burden of proof on the Spammers, forcing them to have your permission to
contact you.

Here is how DigiPortals clever solution and software work: You download or
purchase the software and install it on your PC (sorry PC version only right
now) and setup your approval list by exporting your address book. From that
point forward ChoiceMail automatically assumes all inbound e-mail is Spam and it
blocks any e-mail that is not on an approved list that you have created.

If the e-mail sender is on your approved list it makes it through to your inbox;
if not, then ChoiceMail blocks the mail if the address and adds it to a
rejection list and sends the sender a notification that your on a permission
network and that he/she has to clickthrough to a web site and send you a
message by filling out a form that automatically forwards the persons message
to you, so you can elect to receive or not.

DigiPortal is effectively acting as a trusted middleman in a process that
reminds me of PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) the defacto industry standard e-mail
security application that incorporates a similar process via a key held by a
trusted third party. Your ostensibly guaranteed never to receive any Spam based
e-mail as spammers will never receive your e-mail, let alone reply to it most
use automated systems that have no human intervention in the process. Its
relatively painless for you to manage new contacts - if your receiving in-bound
e-mails from a new a person (contact) that you have no existing relationship
with its easy to accept his/her request to reach you and the software also
automatically updates your permission list.

ChoiceMail is an elegant solution that works well, is easy to use and solves a
problem very cost effectively. There are a few hiccups with the software but,
these are minor when you consider the significant benefits of the product and
assuming the company will broaden its support for other applications in the near
term. At present DigiPortal only works with standard ISPs such as Earthlink,
ATT, etc. and with specific desktop clients including Outlook Express and Eudora
no web-based e-mail services (HotMail or Yahoo mail) work with the software
yet and there is no support for AOL at present. My biggest complaint is that
they dont support a standard Outlook e-mail - you have to manually import your
contact list from Outlook, which can be painstaking depending on the number of
recipients in your address book. And, their initial focus is on the small
business user or consumer, as they offer no support at present for the corporate
enterprise.

Lee Traupel has 20 plus years of business development and marketing experience -
he is the founder of Intelective Communications,Inc. www.intelective.com, a
marketing services company. Lee@intelective.com Reprinted with permission from
Intelective Communications - this article may be reprinted freely, providing
this attribution box remains intact.

Why do we hate spam so much?

Why do we hate spam so much?
By Linda Landry (c)

Everyone agrees that spam is BAD! We obviously hate
it because we named it SPAM. The garbage lunch meat
packed in a can and made from leftover animal parts; the
next thing to waste! Yes, I agree it is annoying to have
your electronic mail box filled with unsolicited mail. But
isn't that what the delete key is for? Once you eliminate
the unwanted item, it is as if it never existed. So why do
we get so upset? Is it because we get unnecessary mail
telling us how to grow body organs we don't have or how
to get more pleasure from sex? Or is it the pornography
we did not request and we are embarrassed that someone
may think we did? I am sure the large part of our concern
is 'catching' a virus. We can protect ourselves from this
contamination with software just as we can protect ourselves
from germs by taking precautions. We cannot totally eliminate
the possibility of becoming infected. But we have learned to
live with the reality of germs. Will we ever become accustomed
to the reality of a computer virus? We have adjusted to junk mail
in our snail mail boxes and telephone solicitors dialing our number
without permission, so why do we get so upset about spam? It has
become the number one topic and it is being labeled as abuse.
Perhaps we should just learn to use our delete key and appreciate
the availability of this free avenue of communication; before it
becomes regulated.

(Linda Landry is the Editor/Publisher of CYBERSHOPNEWS
which is a weekly free ezine. A copy can be reviewed on
her site at http://www.galleryogifts.com.
Brother site: http://www.galleryodefense.com You may contact her about this
article at cybershopnews@aol.com
Reprint permission is granted if the article is printed in it's
entirety and with this resource box.)
 

Linda Landry is a new net 'marketeer' with two retail websites an a new ezine, Cybershopnews. She is a publisher dedicated to presenting quality articles and an affordable media
for you to promote your online biz opps.

How to Stop Spam Mail

Part 1 of this article (www.isitebuild.com/organizedemail) discussed how to efficiently organize your email so you can spend more time on building a profitable business.

One of the most annoying aspects of dealing with incoming email is spam mail (unsolicited email). It fills up your email box, takes up your precious time, and seems to only get worse. You may even delete your personal or business email that was mistaken for spam mail.

This could result in lost business to you.

In Part 2 of this article you will discover solutions to help you stop spam mail. This allows you to spend more time building a profitable business.

Apart from just hitting the delete button each day here are some timesaving solutions:

1. Use the filters or the message rules of your email client.

a) In outlook express (since it is the most popular email client) go to tools - message rules - mail - mail rules - new

b) Under "select conditions for your rule", check "where the subject line contains specific words".

c) Under "select the actions for your rule" check "delete it".

d) Under "rule description" click on "contains specific words" - enter words or phrases that you never wish to receive again.

e) Under "name of rule" provide an appropriate name for the rule ie JUNK.

f) Click OK

Creating this JUNK rule will automatically delete emails containing the specific words or phrases you entered.

There are many other rules you can apply (ie move certain messages to specific folders automatically), depending on what you need.

Here are a couple of web sites that list phrases and keywords frequently used in spam mail:

http://www.sv-cs.com/spam.html http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt8/spamfilter_phrases.htm

2. Use anti-spam software.

You can install software either on your computer (client side) or on your web host (server side).

a) Client Side - software that resides on your computer.

Mailwasher (www.mailwasher.net) - provides an easy way to check and manage your emails before you download them.

There are free and paid versions of mailwasher.

Spamkiller (http://www.mcafee.com/myapps/msk/default.asp)

Features:

*Block emails using both lists and preset filters *Update internal filters automatically *Filter MSN/Hotmail, POP3 and MAPI email *Create custom filters
*Quarantine spam mail outside of your inbox *Import "friends" automatically into your safe list *Monitor and filter multiple email accounts *Fight back against spammers

Paid version only.

b) Server Side - software that resides on your server. This means the spam mail will be deleted before it makes it to your inbox.

Ask your web host what spam mail software they carry and how to implement it. My web host uses spamassassin.

Spamassassin (www.spamassassin.org) this is a mail filter widely used by ISPs to identify spam mail before it reaches your inbox. Check with your web host if it is already installed.

The spam-identification tactics used include:

header analysis - identifies spammers using tricks to mask their identities in the email header.

text analysis - identifies characteristic styles used by spammers in the body of the email.

3) Get a free SpamCheck Report

Here is a FREE test you can do to make sure your newsletter gets through to your subscribers and is not stopped by spam software. Just send your newsletter to spamcheck-webselling83@sitesell.net and you'll get back a full SpamCheck Report in seconds.

Make sure TEST starts the subject line or it will be ignored.

Now your readers can stay out of the "Junk Mail Folder."

Use these techniques and tools to remove spam mail before it gets to you. You will gain more time and be able to concentrate more effectively on your business.

Herman Drost is the author of the NEW ebook "101 Highly Effective Strategies to Promote Your Web Site" a powerful guide for attracting 1000s of visitors to your web site. http://www.isitebuild.com/web-site-promotion Subscribe to his Marketing Tips newsletter for more original articles. mailto:subscribe@isitebuild.com. You can read more of his in-depth articles at: http://www.isitebuild.com/articles

Here Comes the SPAM...Irina

----------------------------------------------------------- TITLE: Here Comes the SPAM... AUTHOR: Irina
LENGTH: 703 words
FORMAT: 59 characters per line CONTACT: irbonness@ureach.com --------------------------CUT HERE-------------------------

Here Comes the SPAM...

By Irina

A courtesy copy of your publication (or, at least, an e-mail notification) sent to irbonness@ureach.com will be appreciated.

I exercise regularly and follow a healthy diet. My weight is right on the money. So every invitation "to loose 30 pounds in 20 days" insults more than just my intelligence and literary taste. Yet until now I managed to treat Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) or simply SPAM as a nuisance that wastes my time and resources, but does not represent a serious problem. Not any more!

The message that changed my attitude looked rather innocent:
"Hello [fname],
I am so-and-so. You are receiving this message because I saw your online business site..." The next day I got another similar message from different so-and-so. Soon, the number escalated to a dozen a day. Very disturbing was also the fact that the messages were arriving to my "strictly business" email addresses reserved exclusively for my customers and business partners. A little research quickly revealed the name of my new enemy - Spam Bot.

Spam Bot is much like a search engine spider. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week it crawls from page to page looking for email addresses. Even single Spam Bot is able to quickly produce huge list of addresses (only addresses - that's why they called me [fname]!) which are used to send SPAM. Unfortunately, there are many of them... Another problem is that being extremely easy to generate and thus very cheap, these lists are sold and re-sold over and over again to nave (obtuse?) "netrepreneurs".

Looks like a serious self-perpetuating problem for anyone with business email address posted on the Internet. Is there a solution? Well, yes - you can completely eliminate this type of SPAM by making your email address unrecognizable for Spam Bots. Here are several possible approaches:

1. Use the FORM MAIL whenever possible. This not only conceals your email address, but also makes it easier for real visitors to contact you. Here is a working example: http://www.megaone.com/hbb/savemoney/ Anyone can email me a question by typing it in the window right on my page and hitting the "Submit Query" button. Yet the address itself is hidden from my human visitors as well as Spam Bots.

2. Replace your "mailto:" link with an IMAGE of your email address. To see an example go to http://www.pcpages.com/trafficy/links.html Feel free to examine the HTML code of the page by right- clicking anywhere in the window and then scrolling to "View source" in the drop-down menu. Instead of my email address you (and Uncle Spam Bot as well!) will only see a link to "emaddress.gif". In this case additional security brings about some inconvenience - the address is not "clickable" and thus one has to memorize it or write it down. This slight disadvantage is circumvented in the next approach.

3. Replace several REAL characters in your email address with so-called SPECIAL characters. These special characters always begin with "&" and end with ";". Whatever is in between determines how the browser will interpret that particular special character. For example, typing "&" "#" "6" "4" ";" (without quotation marks and spaces) is equivalent to using the real character "@".

If you are skeptical that this replacement alone is enough to fool the Spam Bot (that, by the way, makes two of us) - proceed with replacing other characters in your email address. Here is your cheat-sheet to substitute all vowels: a=#97, e=#101, i=#105, o=#111 and u=#117. Remember to start every special character with "&" and end with ";". You can see how it works by going to http://www.megaone.com/hbb/savemoney/links.html

My human visitors can see and click on my email address by using "Click here to get my email address" link. When viewing the code of the little window, you will not find the address in an explicit form - just a long string of special characters with some letters in between. This (hopefully!) is enough to confuse Spam Bots visiting my site.

We will never be able to totally eliminate SPAM that seems to come with the cyberspace "territory". Yet I should feel just a little better if the above suggestions at least partially shield your inbox from unwelcome (and often very badly phrased) offers to consolidate the debts you don't have or safely enlarge a part of your body that... well, you do not have either.
Irina helps people save on healthcare and create steady stream of residual income working from home http://www.megaone.com/hbb/savemoney/ http://www.megaone.com/hbb/makemoney/

Irina helps people save on healthcare and create steady stream of residual income working from home http://www.megaone.com/hbb/savemoney/ http://www.megaone.com/hbb/makemoney/

The Anti-Spam Zealots who went to the FTC Spam Forum

On the three days from April 30 through Friday, May 2, 2003, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) held a "Spam Forum" in Washington, D.C.

According to the FTC website, the purpose of this forum was "to address the proliferation of unsolicited commercial e-mail and to explore the technical, legal, and financial issues associated with it."

While the FTC and other government entities try to figure out how they can legally address the Spam issue, they are doing so without consulting with those of us who run small businesses online. Of the 97 people who spoke at the forum, the majority was technicians and lawyers who represent the ISP's and Anti-Spam companies. A few of the people even represented large bulk email companies.

Forum participants could not even agree on a proper definition of "spam" --- yet they propose that they are the best qualified to help write the laws that will eliminate spam?

My question is this, who represented the small business owner and the small publishers at the FTC spam forum? No one really. It was not because the small business segment did not have representatives willing to speak on their behalf. In fact, both I-Cop.org and OMPUAC.org --- both of whom represent small online businesses --- had petitioned to have their representatives speak at the forum, but both were turned down.

You can read the list of the people who DID speak at the FTC "Spam Forum" at:

http://www.theezine.net/ftc_spam_forum.shtml

Should you honestly believe the anti-spam profiteers had your interests in mind when they had the opportunity to speak to the FTC?

Here are some of the anti-spam profiteers who found representation at the FTC "Spam Forum":

Mail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS) SpamCon Foundation
SpamCop
The Spamhaus Project
Habeas

Even in the hallowed lists of the anti-spam zealots, the profiteers aren't taken very seriously sometimes. When addressing Anne P. Mitchell, Esq., CEO of Habeas, Inc., a member of the SPAM-L list suggested:

"What makes you think that 'we' trust Habeas any more than any other organisation whose business model depends on spam continuing to exist in order to stay in business."

Good point.

William Waggoner, founder of AAW Marketing LLC in Las Vegas, Nevada, did actually support my own point of view. He suggested at the "Spam Forum" that technology techniques like spam filtering hurts even legitimate email marketers!

You know whom Mr. Waggoner was talking about. He was talking about those e-mail marketers who have actually acquired permission from the email recipient to send them commercial email.

When someone in the forum audience laughed at his comment, Waggoner fired back, "You think that's funny?"

So why did they laugh? This gets to the heart of why the FTC Spam Forum was bad news for the legitimate email marketer. Many anti-spam zealots do not believe that there is such a thing as "legitimate commercial email!"

TERM: Double Opt-in - Requires a subscriber to request a subscription and then to verify the intention to subscribe by following a defined procedure.

Even if publishers who now require "double opt-in" subscriptions were to ask for and keep records of "quadruple opt-in" verifications from their subscribers, a lot of anti-spam zealots would still cry foul!

Why else would the terms *s*u*b*s*c*r*i*b*e* and *u*n*s*u*b- *s*c*r*i*b*e* be included in many spam filters with the implied suggestion that email that carries this terminology MUST be spam?

It does no good to be able to prove double opt-in to the ISP's and the anti-spam zealots. Most presuppose that any commercial email is likely to be spam.

The ISP's are honestly concerned with the cost of bandwidth in association with email. Estimates have put the monthly cost of spam to be $3 per month per email account. Thus, if ISP's can reduce or eliminate spam, they can reduce their costs and improve their profits.

ISP's who oppose all commercial email --- you know, the kind who laugh at the suggestion that spam filters hurt "legitimate email marketers" --- think one step further. They believe that if they can eliminate all commercial email, then they can significantly reduce their costs and significantly improve their profits!

At every level of the Internet food-chain, people are concerned with their own profits. The anti-spam zealots, who had the most pronounced representation at the FTC spam forum, will profit handsomely from the loss of commercial email... Or will they?

Without commercial enterprise on the Internet, will people still be flocking to the web in the numbers they are today?

Recognizing the fact that the filtering industry is destroying email commerce, people like Anne P. Mitchell of Habeas, Inc. have come running to the assistance of online commercial businesses. For a price, Habeas will "whitelist" your publication or email --- or should I say for a hefty price, Habeas will "whitelist" your email!

TERM: Whitelist - This is a kind of filter that suggests that any email that meets the whitelist definitions will be pre-verified (under the terms of the whitelist company) as legitimate commercial email.

Habeas purports to offer a "value-added service" that will help your outgoing email reach its destination unobstructed. Habeas also purports its fees to be very reasonable --- up to $500 per mailing list per year. Is $500 really a "reasonable" price? I don't think so.

As consumers, we always think of the "spam war" as something that addresses the unsolicited email from the p*o*r*n industry, the nutritional products industry, and other fly-by-night scammers.

Yet, when the people who are speaking on our behalf in the halls of government think of the "spam war", they are thinking of something else entirely. In fact, they are attempting to remove the cash from the pockets of not only the spammers, but also the small business people who employ legitimate email marketing techniques.

Why do so many anti-spam zealots target all commercial email? Simple, they want to put the cash where THEY think it belongs --- into their own pockets!

John Calder is the owner and editor of http://www.TheEzine.Net Subscribe Today and get real information YOU can use to help build your online business today.

Bayesian Spam Filters Uncovered

In a word Bayesian spam filters are "intelligent". Bayesian spam filters are intelligent in so far as they're capable of comparing two sets of information and acting on the result. This is in direct contrast to the vast majority of other spam filters who use pre-built rules to decide which e-mail is spam and which is not.

Bayesian spam filters can take one group of legitimate e-mail and another group of spam and compare the values and data of each. The definition of legitimate e-mail that it creates at the end of this comparison session is what it uses going forward to scan your inbox for spam.

FYI Bayesian spam filters are named after Thomas Bayes an 18 century cleric who created something known as Bayes Theorem. In summary Bayes Theorem is as follows: .."in statistical inference to update estimates of the probability that different hypotheses are true, based on observations and a knowledge of how likely those observations are, given each hypothesis." In plain English it looks for obvious repeating patterns to form an "opinion" on something. In spam filter terms that "opinion" becomes a rule which keeps you spam free (or pretty close :-)

The really neat thing about Bayesian filters is that they're capable of learning. For example if they decided to block an e-mail because the filter perceived it as junk but the user marked it as valid mail the Bayesian filter then knows not to block that type of e-mail in the future. So, in time, this type of spam filter learns enough to block spam far more effectively. AOL have embraced this type of spam filter with the launch of AOL 9.0 and AOL Communicator- if the big dog wants it then it must be worthwhile?

So what Bayesian spam filtering options are available to you? Well quite a few to be honest and you'll be pleasantly surprised by some of the names involved :-) The first one on the list is AOL with their AOL Communicator product. The spam filtering features in AOL Communicator and AOL 9 are, to be honest, impressive. Think what you will of the provider themselves AOL Communicator is an excellent product and is suitable for use by both PC and Mac OSX users.

Next up we have Eudora. The nice folks at Qualcomm have designed an excellent e-mail client that also has built in Bayesian spam filtering. I've used Eudora in the past and it's a neat little package. Again the benefits here are advanced integrated spam filtering with your e-mail automatically. Mac OSX and OS9 users are in luck with Eudora providing support for both.

If you'd like to know more about spam filters or just spam in general please do drop by http://www.spam-site.com for more information.

Niall Roche is the content author and owner of http://www.spam-site.com.

SPAM: Are you taking the Asterisk*?

SP*M is the scourge of the Internet. Everyone hates SP*M. Even SPA*MERS hate SP*M!

For the average email user it's an annoyance. But for the
Internet marketer it represents a serious threat. If you're
sending ezines, autoresponder messages or solo ads as a means of building your business, then there's every chance that between 10% and 50% of your recipients never get your email.

It's the SP*M blockers you see.

More and more email users have installed SP*M blockers to
prevent all the thrash from ever reaching their inbox. Likewise,
an ever-increasing number of ISPs use similar technology to
protect their users.

This represents a serious challenge to the legitimite marketer
who's sending legitimite emails to legitimite opt-in recipients.

It's gotten to the point where I can't even spell the word SP*M
in this article for fear it never reaches you. I should also
avoid words like FR*E or M*NEY or OPP*RTUNITY or even something apparently harmless like CLICK BEL*W!!

In fact, there's so many things that will clock up points on the
SP*M blocker's index, that it's getting near impossible for us
to write anything in our emails. (If you're interested, you can
see an extensive list of the kind of stuff that will earn you
SP*MMER points at http://spamassassin.org/tests.html).

So what can you do to get around this problem?

Simple. You've got to determine whether the emails you send out are going to pass the SP*M blockers criteria or not.

Here's how to do it without spending a penny...

1. Download and install Eudora email software from http://eudora.com (it's FR*E!).

2. Download and install Spamnix from http://www.spamnix.com
(the FR*E version is fine).

3. Set up one of your existing email accounts in Eudora or
create a new one especially for the purposes of testing your
mails.

4. Every time you have an email ready to send to your opt-in
subscribers, send a test copy to your email account in Eudora
first. Spamnix will examine the mail and, if it looks like SP*M,
it will filter it into a special folder it creates to handle
this kind of thing. Spamnix will also tag a report on to the
bottom of the message that shows you exactly what's wrong with your email to earn it such a poor reputation.

Now, all you have to do is tweak your message according to the Spamnix report and try again. Keep doing this until Spamnix no longer considers you a dirty rotten SP*MMER.

Because Spamnix uses the same criteria as just about every other SP*M blocking software, you can now be quite certain that your email will reach its intended recipients.

So, don't let those SP*MMERS drive you out of business. Take
action today to ensure that their dodgy business practices are
not costing you dearly.

And with that I've got to sign off... I've just received a H*T
offer on how to make L*ADS of M*NEY selling VI*GRA to people with M*RTGAGES who W*RK from H*ME to pay off their CR*DIT C*RD B*LLS!

Or something.

Michael Hopkins is owner of BizzyDays Ebook Publications.
Visit now to download original ebooks for FREE at:
http://www.bizzydays.com
This article first appeared in Michael's newsletter 'Ebook Times'.
To subscribe visit: http://www.bizzydays.com/free_newsletter.htm

Cellular Spam?? You bet!

Cellular spam is no joke!

"Man, I'm so sick of getting spam messages on my email."
"No sooner do I set up a new account, but the spammers find me again!" "It's enough to make me give up using email!"

Does this sound like a familiar refrain? Could it be you, or a family member, or friend?
Think we're talking about your email account at home? Well, think again

Remember the days when you only had to worry about getting calls at dinner or bed time from telemarketer?
Childs play! Spamming of your email account? Mere pranks.

Now, meet the text messaging spam on your cell phone. Yep, you heard it here.
The same people who brought us the joy of spam, now bring us "Son of Spam"! This is unsolicited text messaging to your cell phone.

You might say, "What's the big deal?" I'm glad you asked, but I'm sure it would have come to you.
When spammers hit your online mailbox with spam, it uses up your time. That's the only currency wasted.
But, with cell phone text-messaging spammers they're spending your money to send you their messages!
That's right your paying for their advertising!

And, it's not restricted to the U.S. In Europe things are even worse, where an estimated 65% of the customers
complain of getting five or more spam messages a week, and this after the EU put digital privacy rules into place to curtail the problem.

In our country, the Can-Spam Law is supposed to address the problem, and all of the providers are aware of it as well.
In fact, many say they will refund any time used as a result of unwanted text messaging.

Each cellular service provider has its own policy. You'll need to check with them to find out what recourse you have.

Arnie Jacobsen is an educator, entrepreneur, and freelance writer offering tips and insights for those interested in

Free Cell Phones, and
Cellular Phone Accessory.

Which spam filter is best for me?

With the number of spam filtering solutions increasing each week it's getting tougher for consumers to make informed choices in their purchases.

There are 3 basic types of spam filters:

1. Integrated
2. Standalone
3. Online

We'll look at each type of spam filter and at the end you should be able to decide what spam filter is right for you.

Integrated spam filters
This type of spam filtering software is the most common. Once installed it sits "on top" of your existing email software and installs a new set of buttons into your email software. In future when you collect email you'll see options for marking email as Spam,
marking the email as Not Spam, Bounce the email back to sender, etc. The description and position of these buttons varies from one product to the next but their purpose remains the same.

Most integrated spam filters automatically place suspected junk email into a separate folder on your PC for you to review or delete later on.

The newer integrated spam filters are also "intelligent". They can basically learn the difference between what is spam and what is not and delete the junk email you don't want.

The most popular integrated spam filters are:

iHate Spam
Spambully
Spam Inspector

Integrated spam filters are most popular amongst people who want a one click solution to collecting their personal email and filtering junk email at the same time.

Advantages:
One click solution.

Disadvantages:
Software specific. Some work with Outlook and Outlook Express only.

Standalone spam filters
These are less common than their integarted counterparts but that doesn't make them any less useful. A standalone spam filter is basically a separate piece of software installed on
your PC that you use to check your email for spam.

Standalone filters have the big advantage of being able to preview your email on the mail server before it's downloaded to your PC. This one single feature has the huge benefit of allowing you to just download the email that you want as opposed to downloading all of your email, including the spam, and then sorting through it.

Using a standalone spam filter is a little more work simply because it's a separate piece of software that you have to run before you open up your email software. Most standalone filters
do allow you to configure them so that your standard email application is opened once you've chosen what spam to filter. This suits some people and not others.

The most popular standalone spam filter is:

Mailwasher Pro

Advantages:
Doesn't rely on specific email applications to work properly.

Disadvantages:
Two step process. Load standalone filter and then your email application.

Online spam filters
There are really two types of online spam filters. One is for business use and one is for home use. A typical example of a business type product is iHate Spam server edition where the
software deletes junk email directly from the mail server before the end user even sees it. Large companies employ this type of technology.

Home users will be using Spam Arrest or similar. Spam Arrest offers an inventive solution to spam whereby any email sent to the users account has a challenge request sent back to it which
the sender must authenticate. The automatic junk email software used by spammers can't currently deal with this type of response. Any failure to authenticate the challenge email results in the junk email being left to die in cyberspace. A user is authenticated with Spam Arrest only once for security just to make sure the software doesn't become a nuisance.

The most popular online spam filter is:

Spam Arrest

Advantages:
Users are guaranteed to only receive the email that they want or requested.

Disadvantages:
Any techncial problems with the Spam Arrest server and you have no defense against spam.

Now you've seen what spam filtering options are available to you just ask yourself which one suits you most. If you're still not sure drop by http://www.spam-site.com and check out our product reviews - we have something for everyone.
Niall Roche is the content author and owner of http://www.spam-site.com

PC Doctor+ Guide 4 Reducing Spam

Get Some Protection: Part 4 Spam

SPAM . . SPAM . . SPAM . . Yes it really was named after the famous Monty Python sketch featuring the intrepid Erik the Viking.

What Is Spam?

Unsolicited e-mail. Over 60% of all e-mails are now unsolicited sales messages - and it's growing.

Junk mail is the scourge of the Internet. While it's a real shame that something as useful as e-mail should be contaminated by this claptrap there are serious implications to it's phenomenal growth. EU businesses spend 1.5 billion a year trying to counter it and now Governments are looking at ways legislate against it.
There are no ways to avoid it completely that we know of but you can take steps to minimise it.

Common Sense Tips to Reduce SPAM

Never visit web sites advertised by Spam mail

If you do, never, NEVER buy anything

Do not reply to the e-mail or click an unsubscribe link - doing so merely confirms that your e-mail address is active and that the message has been read.

Delete Spam messages immediately

If certain domains are particularly bothering you report them to your ISP

Don't register for free services - especially those that don't allow you to opt out of third party and/or related products and services - they'll forward your address on to other Spammers.

Set up a dummy web based e-mail account such as Hotmail and use this address as a scrap bucket if you can't avoid providing an e-mail address. Organisations such as Hotmail routinely clear out dead messages to save space which means once you have set up your dummy account you can forget about it.

Blocking Unsolicited Mail In Microsoft Outlook Express

Once you have received an unsolicited mail into your inbox select it by clicking on it once.

Move the pointer to the MESSAGE menu option on the top menu bar
Select BLOCK SENDER

This action adds the senders address to a growing list of blocked senders. Each time a mail is received from any of those in the blocked list the mail is moved automatically to the DELETED ITEMS folder and does not appear in the INBOX.

Blocking Unsolicited Mail In Microsoft Outlook 2000/2002/XP

Use the RULES WIZARD within the TOOLS menu to create a rule to send any mail suspected of being Junk Senders to the DELETED ITEMS folder.

When an unsolicited e-mail arrives in your Inbox then select it by RIGHT clicking on it once and choose to add it to the junk senders list.

Delete the mail manually from your Inbox

The next time a mail arrives from the same source it will be moved automatically to the DELETED ITEMS folder. As the list grows the amount of junk mail in your Inbox will diminish.

Steve Latimer is Systems Manager with Arrival Computers (http://www.arrival-computers.co.uk). PC Doctor+ Guides are aimed at users new to computing. They may be reproduced and included in web sites as additional content provided a link is added back to the Arrival Computers Web Site.

That's Not Spam, That's My Newsletter!

That's Not Spam, That's My Newsletter!
By Jessica Albon

For those of us who receive way too many unsolicited emails, Spam filters are a blessing. Switch to the publisher's side of the desk, though, and Spam filters can become problematic.

Before you can keep your opt-in newsletter out of the Spam filter's reach, you have to learn a little about the kinds of Spam filters available. Currently, options range from those installed by an ISP, like Spam Assassin, to those that run with another program, like Microsoft's Outlook, as is the case with cloudmark's SpamNet. Spam Assassin uses a point system to determine whether or not a piece of email is Spam. The more points a particular email collects, the more likely it is to be Spam. SpamNet not only filters based on key words (free!, for instance), but also allows users to submit Spam to then be blocked for other users. Most Spam filters use some sort of blacklist of known Spammers to block emails.

The other component you'll need to be aware of is the blacklist. As mentioned, most of the available Spam filters use one or more of these collections of email addresses and domain names that send out a lot of Spam. Blacklists are primarily compiled by volunteers. In other words, you mail them the Spam you receive in your inbox, they take a look at it and then decide whether or not to add the sender to their list.

Because Spam filters have both a computer component (such as the points system used by Spam Assassin), and a human component (such as the blacklists and the new system from SpamNet), you'll need to make sure your newsletter doesn't raise flags in either camp. Here are some suggestions for avoiding problems.

So your newsletter convinces people

1. Never send your newsletter unsolicited, not even to current or past customers (it's easy enough to ask them if they'd like to be subscribed with a personal email). In fact, it's a risk even to send your newsletter to a list you've purchased no matter what you've been told about the intent of the list's subscribers-can you be sure all of the subscribers expected to receive your email on widgets just because they checked a box saying they were interested in widgets? This will help keep you off the "blacklists" that are available to Spam filters.

2. Provide what you say you will, when you say you will. Don't mislead your audience at the subscribing stage and don't send out emails with manipulative subject lines. Not only is this not good for your reputation, but it may also trigger common Spam filters.

3. Don't type all in caps. A hallmark of the Nigerian Bank Scam, typing all in caps isn't just rude; it may get your newsletter forwarded to a blacklist. Additionally, make sure to capitalize the beginnings of your sentences and otherwise use professional grammar and punctuation. An unprofessional email may be more likely to arouse the suspicions of your readers.

4. Leave them wanting more. If your newsletter is really, really valuable, subscribers who don't get it will miss it. Some ezine publishers have found their ezines are so popular, people who stop receiving the emails actually complain.

5. Make your policy clear. Tell readers how to unsubscribe at your website and in your newsletter. Let them know whom to contact if they have any trouble. And, of course, make sure to follow through immediately.

So your newsletter convinces the computer

6. Steer clear of subject lines that scream SPAM! Words like "free," "limited time," and "money" often trigger Spam filters. Take a look at the Spam in your own inbox for examples of words not to use.

7. Offer directions for "subscribing" and "unsubscribing." Spammers often use the word "remove" in their emails, so you'll want to avoid it at all costs. Plus, in some Spam filters, you actually lose points (the fewer points, the less likely an email is Spam) when you offer subscribing and unsubscribing instructions.

8. Send it from a reputable domain name, or better yet, your own. Free email addresses are often used heavily by Spammers, so you'll want to stay away from them if at all possible.

9. Don't send attachments. Most email readers regard attachments with suspicion anyway and the attachment may trigger Spam filters set up to screen adult material. Both are good reasons to send your entire email in the body of the email. Still not convinced? Many of your readers will have limited inbox space-by avoiding attachments you won't give them an extra reason to delete your newsletter unread.

When you keep up-to-date on the latest Spam filter technology, you may find Spam filters are actually your allies-they may mean your newsletter will have less competition in your reader's inbox.

Is it your job to increase company profits? The Write Exposure offers the resources you need to do just that at http://www.designdoodles.com

Wham! Bam! Thank You Spam!

Once upon a time, e-mail messages flowed freely through
Once upon a time, e-mail messages flowed freely through cyberspace and the congenial smell of e-mails was everywhere.

I remember racing to my inbox each day with a wild anticipation that I was about to be informed of new and enlightening events, along with notes from friends.

Maybe, the collection would also include an order or two to quell my monetary wishes, as well as, containing some of my favorite newsletters.

Ah! Those were the salad days...when my inbox was a welcome sight each morning.

Oh, of course there was that occasional sales pitch, but that was just to keep me alert.

But alas, those were days of yore.

Today we are drowning in a deepening cascade of rubbish, as a result of unsolicited e-mails irritatingly referred to as "Spam."

"Spam" is a term contrived in a parody a few years back by an English group of comedians (Monty Python's Flying Circus), describing a food product (Spam) exploited in a humorous manner.

While this form of e-mail sludge(Spam) is far from a laughing matter, the irrational reaction to it by some is itself fraught with calamity.

If we were simply confronted with this daily deluge of these unwanted emails, that would be annoying enough.

However, what is now occurring is far worse! In fact, its really scary.

Part of this chaos springs from the fact that there in no clear cut definition to everyone of just what comprises this thing we term SPAM!

Further, nothing explains, nor excuses the destructively paranoid reactions of some to this proliferation of spam plaguing us now.

On one hand there are the saintly IP's, installing what is loosely described as "Anti-Spam" software, which I must admit does accomplish two things.

Those being the purging of many needed emails, while taking no notice of, most of the porn and sludge.

Yet the real damage comes from the growing number of self-appointed crusaders ('e-mail nazi') that inhabit the Internet.

They take it upon themselves to police the net vowing to squash any unsuspecting spammer.

These "Not in my inbox" nerds, suffering from delusions of importance, mistakenly harass the IP's of honest marketers and purveyors of newsletters.

In fact, many a website has been shut down as the result of a false accusation of spamming.

Often, the accusation is all it takes today, due to the hysteria prevalent on the Web, along with the growing fixations of many hosting companies.

These spiteful actions have indeed caused devastating financial harm and damage to the reputations of many well known and blameless Internet pioneers.

A few states have enacted legislation against spam, but they still can't define it. The U.S. congress has also mentioned some sort of a bill, but are bogged down with, things more important. Such as, which luxuries to pass new taxes on like food, cars, etc..

Once congress settles on a definition of this phenomenon and passes a new law, you can count on the spammers to really come out of the woodwork along with their lawyers.

They could sue for obesity to inboxes!

As for me, I long for the days when I can once again utter, "Don't you just love the smell of email in the air!"

Joe Myna is webmaster at http://www.anezbiz.com "The Virtual Warehouse Of Info Products." Also, http://www.ahowto.com "The Virtual Bookshelf Of How-To Courses." Mr. Myna who began marketing on the Internet in 1996 is also the author of many best-selling marketing and How-To eBooks.

Joe Myna is webmaster at www.anezbiz.com and involved in direct marketing for over 30 years. Mr. Myna first went online in 1996. Mr. Myna is author of "Internet Profits - The Quick Way" Download now at http://www.anezbiz.com/Quick.exe

Beware Spam Withdrawals

I miss the good old days when the only time you'd spend an hour dealing with spam was trying to pry it out of the can.
Q: I am so sick of all the spam that is sent to my business email address. I spend an hour every morning just trying to sort out the good email from the bad. I know I could just delete it all, but I'm afraid I'll accidentally delete email that might be important to my business. Short of unplugging my computer, what's the best solution for dealing with spam?

A: I feel your pain. I, too, miss the good old days when the only time you'd spend an hour dealing with spam was trying to pry it out of the can.

Due to the nature of my business, I get a lot of unwanted email. I've been working on the Internet since 1995 and my email address has been publicly exposed for most of that time, so I am a spammer's delight. It is no exaggeration to say that I used to receive more than 400 email messages a day. Out of those 400 messages about 10% were from people I knew, 10% were from people I needed to know, and the rest were from people that I would like to track down and field dress with a very dull knife.

Spammers, they are called the scourge of the Internet the digital kin of the lowly telemarketer and dreaded junk mailer.

After listening to me complain about spam for months, my lead engineer burst into my office a few weeks ago and announced, "I've solved our spam problem! I've installed a spam filter on our server that will prevent spam from getting through."

Great, I thought, now I can find something new to complain about.

I wondered what I would do with the extra two hours a day this wonderful spam filter would give me. My joy quickly waned when within a day my email went from 400 to 40. It was the saddest day of my life. Sitting there staring at my empty email box I suddenly felt very alone. At that moment I realized that not only had I come to expect the morning deluge of email, but I had come to find comfort in it. The spammers had become my friends. They wanted me to get rich quick and brighten my smile. They wanted to enhance my love life with generic Viagra and give me great deals on miniature cameras, low interest loans, waterfront property, and more. And the sheer number of folks concerned about the abundance (or lack thereof) of my anatomy was incredibly heart warming.

And the ladies that sent me email were so nice. They were worried that I was lonely and offered to cure my loneliness if only I gave them a credit card number. How sweet is that?

After a few days the withdrawal symptoms ceased and I was happy to be free of the majority of the spam, though to this day I'm afraid that I might be missing out on something grand.

You and I are not alone, Anna. According to a recent study by eMarketer, the average Internet email user now receives 81 emails a day, and nearly one quarter of them are spam. Spam now makes up more than 40% of all email and costs U.S. companies more than $10 billion annually. Seventy-six billion unsolicited e-mail messages will be delivered in 2003.

So how do spammers get your email address in the first place? It's easier than you might think. While some spam comes as a result of online purchases (yes, there are companies that will sell your email address no matter what their privacy policy says), that's just one of the ways spammers get you in their sites.

Spammers use "spider software" to crawl the web and harvest email address, so if you have a personal or company website that has your email posted on it, sooner or later a spam spider is going to grab your address and add it to the mill. Likewise when you sign up to take online surveys or receive email newsletters, you are potentially exposing yourself to spammers.

How can you reduce the amount of spam you get? Many people think that you can't fight spam, so you should just accept it and move on. In other words, you can not fight the Borg, so smile and be assimilated into the fold. While spam is hard to eliminate, there are things you can do to lessen the amount of spam you receive and it's impact on your daily business life.

First, stop clicking on the "unsubscribe" links at the bottom of spam emails. While some of the links are valid and will get you removed from spammer's lists, other are actually there just to let the spammer know that your address is valid. Click the link to unsubscribe and you might actually see the amount of spam you receive increase.

Second, it's a good idea to have at least two e-mail addresses. Use one for personal or business use, and the other for surveys and online purchases.

Third, consider installing a spam blocking software on your computer or company network. There are a variety of spam blocking applications on the market that range in price from free to a hundred bucks. Though none of them will completely eliminate spam, they can greatly reduce the volume you receive. Search the Web for "spam filter" and investigate the ones that you feel are right for you.

Your Internet Service Provider should also offer an anti-spam application, but be careful how you use it. I have a client who recently increased the sensitivity of their ISP spam blocker to the point that nothing was getting delivered to their company email accounts, including their own company newsletter. They had effectively built an email brick wall that stopped the spam and everything else. Not a good idea.

Before investing in a commercial spam blocker you might also try adjusting the email filtering settings in your email software. Microsoft Outlook, for example, lets you set rules for handling incoming mail. The same is true with Outlook Express, Eudora, and Apple's Mail OSX. Each have built-in filtering features that can help eliminate unwanted email by parameters you set.

One thing to remember is that if spam didn't work, it would quickly go away. In other words, if spammers weren't profiting from sending unwanted emails they would go do something else.

Probably become a telemarketer or credit card debt collector.

Whether you use a commercial product or rely on your existing email software to filter out spam, just be careful that you don't batten down the hatches so tight that you no longer receive any email at all.

Here's to your success!

Tim Knox tim@onlineprofits4u.com

Small Business Q&A is written by veteran entrepreneur and syndicated columnist, Tim Knox. Tim serves as the president and CEO of three successful technology companies: B2Secure Inc., a Web-based hiring management software company; Digital Graphiti Inc., a software development company; and Sidebar Systems, a company that creates-cutting edge convergence software for broadcast media outlets. Tim is also the founder of OnlineProfits4U.com, an ebusiness dedicated to the success of online entrepreneurs. Tim is also the Ebusiness Startup and Design Expert for Entrepreneur.com, the website of the national publication Entrepreneur Magazine. http://www.smallbusinessqa.com
http://www.onlineprofits4u.com
http://www.digitalgraphiti.com

Affiliate Marketing and Spam: The New Realities

The growing backlash against spam is changing the way affiliates need to run their business.
With all the tools available to affiliate marketers, nothing quite compares to a well-written email that that introduces you, explains your affiliate's benefits, and piques the prospect's interest. The path to marketing success is then relatively straightforward - you create a killer letter and get it to as many prospects as possible. Simple, isn't it?

Not any more.

Over the past year there has been a shift in the online environment's view of unsolicited email so pervasive that affiliate marketers cannot afford to ignore it. The movement has made changes in the structural relationship between a company and its affiliate marketers, and has even moved offline into the hands of lawmakers (for better or worse).

Three realties stand out:

- A Spam complaint you are unprepared for can cause significant disruption to your business.

Spam is, to a great degree, still in the eye of the beholder. Someone who doesn't remember opting in to your program and claims your email to be Spam has an unfortunate degree of credibility from square one. ISP's are so intent on shutting down possible Spam sources, that you can quickly find yourself without an account or with a suspended account "pending investigation". The potential disruption - from advertising being spoiled, to confusion on the part of customers, to even loss of access to database information on the ISP's site, can be enormous.

Further, it's hard to envision doing large-scale advertising without sending one email that upsets someone, so this situation is a virtual certainty for marketers at some point.

- The company you are affiliated with has less incentive to back you than you might realize

How many people remember the old Mission Impossible series on TV? The agent always received a tape that explained the mission, wished him luck and by the way..if any of you are caught we will disavow any knowledge of your actions. Companies offering affiliate programs are playing a version of that tape now when they tell you they have a "Zero Tolerance" policy for Spam. It sounds noble, but what it means is that unless you are one of their top super affiliates they'd rather dump you than get themselves caught up in a Spam issue. You are guilty until you prove yourself innocent.

- You can make changes to react to this new environment and emerge a stronger marketer.

Change 1 - Understand Your Sources

Instead of simply mailing to opt in and safe lists on a whim, get to know the people producing these lists. Send a personal email to the list owner and mention how concerned you are about unintentionally spamming anyone. If your source is a quality company you will probably get a personal response back reassuring you that this particular list really is opt in. Keep a file of all these responses so that when you do get named in a Spam complaint you can, as a first step, show this ISP that you have been concerned about acting properly for a long time.

Change 2 - Build Your List Yourself

No tools are safer (or more effective) than opt in lists you build yourself. This is certainly the slowest and most difficult of all methods of marketing but is by far the most rewarding. There is virtually no successful online marketer who does not believe that your personal opt in list isn't the most important asset you have. Why? Because it takes a number of contacts to get most people to buy something online. Selling to people on a first contact, cold call basis is strictly hit and miss.

Change 3 - Become a More Systematic Marketer

Take this time to institute systematic evaluation of all your advertising. There are many tools available to evaluate each mailing you do and each ad you place. Marketers who begin this analysis often find that 50% of their business comes from half the ad sources they use. Cut the dead half and reevaluate regularly. You will find that this will cut the chances that you market to a bad list.

Preparing yourself for this new environment can be an opportunity to make yourself a better marketer while protecting your business from serious disruption. Christopher Greig writes on a variety of marketing topics and helps people develop both active and passive income online at http://character36.com

What Exactly is Spam?

Spam, as defined in the context of computers, the Internet and electronic messaging, is a term used to designate unsolicited bulk electronic messaging and communication. In particular, spam is unsolicited bulk mailings that are commercially oriented. It is most commonly used in advertising, but it is also used to perpetrate religious, political or other types of messages. Spam is, often times, considered the electronic equivalent of junk postal mail, telemarketing or broadcast faxing. Spam got its bad name and reputation from the advertisement of ill reputable and questionable products, such as pornography, pyramid schemes, fad products, pump-and-dump stocks, etc.

Spam is delivered via several mediums, to include:
E-mail messages
Search engines
Instant messaging
Web blogs
Usenet newsgroups
Text messaging mobile phones
Internet telephony

The growth of spam is a result of the cost benefit to initiators, who need only devise and develop distribution lists. The other associated costs of spam, such as bandwidth, message management and loss of productivity, become the responsibility of recipients of the messages, ISPs or other public and private entities.

In 2003, the US passed the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act of 2003, which establishes standards for sending commercial e-mail. More specifically, the act is intended to regulate interstate commerce by imposing limitations and penalties on the transmission of unsolicited, commercial electronic mail via the Internet. The act establishes the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as the overseer of its provisions.

The act establishes electronic mail as extremely important in communication since it provides an opportunity for the development and growth of frictionless commerce, which is being threatened by unsolicited commercial email. The act establishes the following as criminal behaviors when used in connection with foreign or interstate electronic mail:

Knowingly accessing a protected computer without authorization
Intentionally deceiving or misleading the origin of messages
Falsifying header information
Falsifying registration information for 5 or more e-mail accounts or 2 or more domain names
Falsely representing one's self as the registrant of 5 or more IP addresses
Obtaining e-mail addresses through improper means
Perpetrating fraud, identity theft, child pornography, obscenity and the sexual exploitation of children.

Criminal penalties include a fine and/or imprisonment for up to 5 years dependent upon:
The volume of electronic transmissions
The amount of falsified information
Losses incurred by others
Monetary gains from the act
Whether the act was committed in furtherance of an felony
Prior offenses.

Civil penalties are dependent upon the jurisdiction placing the charges and may range from hundreds of dollars to millions of dollars, dependent upon the severity of the crimes and losses involved. Also, property traceable to proceeds from monetary gains and equipment used to commit an offense may be forfeited to the US government.

As critics of the law argue, the legislation fails to dictate to marketers and advertisers, not to spam. In fact, the act does not make reference to the term, spam, except as used in the name, CAN-SPAM. The act makes reference to the phrase, commercial electronic mail message, and defines it to be any electronic mail message, the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service (including content on an Internet website operated for a commercial purpose).

Legislation is intended to curb practices inherent in spamming, such as e-mail harvesting, dictionary attacks and using viruses and Trojans to perpetrate messages. The act establishes the following with respect to commercial electronic mail messages:

A message must contain a legitimate return address.

A message must include and specify a method to opt-out of receiving further messages. The ability to opt-out must be available for 30 days.

The sender may not initiate messages after 10 days of receipt of an opt-out.

The sender may not sell, lease, exchange or transfer the opt-out e-mail address to an affiliate.

The sender may offer a menu of options that allow the recipient to either opt-out or opt-in to future messages*.

A message must include an identifier that specifies the message as an advertisement or solicitation.

Messages containing sexually oriented material must contain clearly identifiable markings or notices

A message must include a valid, physical, postal address by which the sender may be contacted.

The sender may not send messages to addresses that were knowingly acquired from proprietary websites and ISPs, through automated methods. Particularly, when the site or ISP provides notice of their refusal to give, sell or transfer addresses for the purpose of initiating electronic mail messages.

The sender may not create automated scripting and other means to gain multiple email addresses for the purpose of transmitting illegal messages.

The sender may not transmit messages from a computer or email address obtained without authorization.
*Unlike opt-out advertising, which allows the recipients of advertisement to discontinue any unwanted advertisements from the sender, opt-in advertising allows the advertiser to request to have specific advertisement sent. The recipient may allow or deny permission to have further advertisement sent. If allowed, the advertiser immediately includes that e-mail address to its distribution list. Another option is, double opt-in advertising, which is similar to opt-in advertising except that once the recipient grants permission to send advertisements, a confirmation request is sent to the recipient to verify that they did, indeed, allow the permission. The e-mail address is added to the distribution list only after the recipient has positively responded to the confirmation request.

CAN-SPAM is not intended to provide cause for the general public to sue spammers, individually or in class action suits. It is designed to allow enforcement by the FTC and other federal agencies for the benefit of the general public. Individuals remain privy to the state laws and regulations of their particular jurisdictions.

Matt Bacak became "##1 Best Selling Author" in just a few short hours.
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turning Authors, Speakers, and Experts into Overnight Success Stories.
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