Fight Spam & Stop Taking It Lying Down!

Please consider my article for publication in your e-zine or website. You are permitted to reprint my article electronically or in print so long as you include the resource box. Exact word count 664 words.

Fight Spam & Stop Taking It Lying Down! By Andres Munoz

Spam is the #1 annoyance on the net it seems these days and the fact is that not much is being done to stop it. The good news is that there are measures you can take to stop spammers with incredible results. Nothing drives me more insane than receiving spam in my business e-mail, it's one thing to receive it in your Yahoo or Hotmail account but having to waste your time to sift through the trash in your business e-mail is ridiculous.

I discovered one tool that has made a difference, www.samspade.org this website will allow you to perform a "Who Is" query of the offending website and locate who their Host Servers are! All you need to do is contact the hosting company and report the spammer. All right how do you find the spammers web address from the spam message?

IT'S SIMPLE!!
99% of the time they will use phony 'From' and 'To' addresses to hide their identity but they include their real web address within the message. Next go to www.samspade.org and paste the offender's web address in the first text box and press, "Do Stuff". You will then find out the spammers true identity. You will discover all types of information about the spammer but the single most important is their "Domain Servers". These are the servers that host their site and will look like:

NS.ABCHosting.Com
NS2.ABCHosting.Com

All you need to do is replace the "NS" with www. In this case the offender's host server is www.ABCHosting. All reputable hosting companies will have a very strict abuse policy and will list an e-mail address to report such abuses (ex. abuse@abchosting.com) You should however visit the website and locate the email address to report abuse, most likely it will be located on their "Terms of Service" page or their "Contact Us" page.

(Note: Some websites in particular porn sites use http://201.234.21.6 as an address. They are NOT immune paste that address in the text box and find out who they are and report them.)

I should also note that be careful when using this tool. Don't report spam especially if you signed up for their Newsletter or Sales Message, remember you "Opt-in" their mailing list.

Likewise be very careful when it comes to websites with affiliates, they may have affiliates that simply don't know how to market a product and will resort to spamming. These are easy to identify, the address may look like: http://www.abccompany.com/4556MS the 4556MS is most likely the affiliates ID. Simply contact the website and report the affiliates ID.

Some spammers are truly dumb and will not hide their IP address. If you receive spam try to view the message headers and sometimes it will reveal the "X-originating IP" this is the spammers IP address. Again paste the IP address in the text box and press "Do Stuff". You will find all you need to know to report them and they will lose their IP address.

On the flip side there are some spammers that are smart, they use a stealth bulk mailer that hides their IP address. Hopefully they will include a web address or an e-mail address. If it's the case that the spam message only contains an e-mail address to respond to like Yahoo, Hotmail or Excite then you can fight back by forwarding that e-mail to:
mailto:abuse@yahoo.com
mailto:abuse@hotmail.com
mailto:abuse@excite.com

You are now armed with a powerful tool to fight spam. Use it wisely and stop taking it lying down! Here are some additional tools for your arsenal.

http://www.samspade.org
http://www.arachnoid.com/lutusp/antispam.html http://www.mindworkshop.com/alchemy/nospam.html http://spamcop.net/

************************************************ Andres Munoz Andres publishes the "MyBiz E-zine" newsletter featuring articles about Promotion, Internet Marketing and Home Business advice and tips. The MyBiz reader will receive an article rich e-zine with few ads. To subscribe visit http://www.mybusiness-resource.com/ and download your free e-book. Discover how you can write killer ads in 5 simple steps that will hit your mark!

Are You Compliant With The Law? Take The CAN-SPAM QUIZ!

Are You Compliant? Take The CAN-SPAM QUIZ!

Test Your Knowledge of The Law - 22 Questions You Should Know.

ANSWER THESE STATEMENTS: TRUE OR FALSE?

The Can Spam Act went into effect Jan. 1st, but marketers have 90 days to become compliant with the new law.

The Can Spam Act Pre-empts many tougher state anti-spam laws.

You may send commercial email with falsified headers.

You must include your phone number in all commercial emails.

You may send UCE as long as the message contains an opt-out mechanism, a functioning return email address, a valid subject line indicating the email is an advertisement, and the legitimate physical address of the sender.

You must include a privacy policy when you collect subscribers.

You may harvest email addresses as long as the messages you send contain an opt-out mechanism, a functioning return email address, a valid subject line indicating the email is an advertisement, and the legitimate physical address of the sender.

You must have a process for handling unsubscribes within a 15 day window.

Referencing or including a link to a commercial entity in an email message is sufficient to make it a commercial email message.

You must add your postal address to all your marketing emails.

The Can Spam Act is enforced by the Attorney General in the state wherein the alleged spam originated.

You must not share the address of a person who unsubscribed with any other entity seeking to send that party email.

It's O.K. to use a misleading subject in your marketing email, as long as you identify the email as an advertisement or solicitation somewhere within the body of the email.

The FTC is required to report back to Congress within two years on the effectiveness of the law and the need, if any, for modifications.

Wireless spam is not covered by the law.

The new law allows for a $250 fine per non compliant email, and possible jail time, for intentionally sending UCE with falsified header information.

All persons in charge of running web servers that relay email must close all open relays within 90 days of enacted of the law (Jan. 1st).

Sending commercial email through an open relay is prohibited by the Can Spam Act.

You must include an unsubscribe mechanism in every commercial email.

Under the law, businesses knowingly promoted in UCE with false or misleading header information are also subject to FTC penalties and enforcement remedies, regardless of whether the FTC is able to identify the spammer who initiated the email.

All commercial email (except those sent to opt in lists) must contain ADV in the subject line, to indicate the email is an advertisement.

All commercial email (except those sent to opt in lists) must be identified as an advertisement or solicitation.

For answers to these questions, take the quiz online at: http://www.EmailMarketingSurvey.com/CAN-SPAM-Quiz.html

Jim Symonds, EmailMarketingSurvey.com. All Rights Reserved.

Jim Symonds publishes "Web Secrets Exposed!" Eye popping, and jaw dropping, sneaky little web design tricks & web marketing secrets revealed. How'd they do that? We'll show you! Subscribe Now FR*E! Learn 1001 Sneaky Tips 'n Tricks http://www.WebSecretsExposed.com

Get Your Emails Organized, Part II : Fight Spam !

In the last few years the extent of Spam (unsolicited email) has multiplied a hundred times. Have you taken measures to reduce spam to a minimum ? If not, I will give you some hints how you can fight this new evil of the information age .

Those annoying violators of your privacy are not worth your valuable time...

Pseudo Excuses Of Spammers

Those guys hide their shameless behaviour after pseudo excuses like "Thank you for your request" or "Re : More information" , "Thank you very much for your offer", "I saw your ad", "I've just visited your website" etc. - so people could think "Mmmmmmh, I'm not sure if I have NOT requested that stuff or perhaps he has a real request" ; it could be a legal email, though...

Following the rules outlined in this article, you'll be able to free more of your time for doing business again and not getting over- whelmed by a flood of emails.

Use A Different Email Address For All Your Marketing Needs...

I'm almost certain that you will have more than just one email address for your email needs . Or rather not ? Then you are making a big mistake.....

Do you already have your own domain ? With your own website, you will have included a lot of email POP-accounts which are just perfect to fit your desire to be protected against spam . If you don't have your own domain, you should order one ASAP or you are not serious about marketing on the Internet....

You should at least set up the following e-mail accounts :

1.) E-mail for subscriptions to newsletters ONLY -e.g. : ezines@domainname.com

2.) E-mail for private purposes (friends, relatives, colleagues) -e.g. : firstname@yahoo.com , firstname@hotmail.com

3.) E-mail for public ads (public e-mail address ) - e.g. : ads1@domainname.com ---> This Is The Email Address Where SPAM Goes To

4.) E-mail for outgoing ad messages (e.g. if you're the owner of an FFA-page and you send confirmation e-mails; this would be the "sender"-address) ------> This is the email address where you have to deal with autoresponders/undeliverables/ and also SPAM

5.) E-mail for personal marketing contacts only (e.g. contact with other newsletter publishers/JV-partners/affiliates etc. ) - e.g. : firstname@domainname.com

And additionally, if you publish an ezine, you'll need these :

6.) E-mail for article submissions -e.g.: articles@domainname.com

7.) E-mail for advertisement info -e.g.: ads@domainname.com or adinfo@domainname.com

Then you create new inboxes for each of these new email accounts . The next step is to set up rules for filtering the incoming emails into the right folders ( described in part I of "Get your emails organized" ) .

With this very basic filtering system, you can categorize your in- coming emails at a glance. You will also be able to delete all spam mails you received with two clicks of your mouse .

The 3 Golden Rules Of Spam Reduction :

NEVER EVER use your private/subscription addresses/marke- ting contacts email addresses for public purposes. Never leave these addresses on websites and don't use them in your email correspondences (except for validation purposes from ezines you are subscribed to, e.g. to get your free ads) !

NEVER EVER post to FFA-pages (by the way, you won't get any results from using them as these pages are hardly ever seen by a human ....- Owning an FFA-page is something different) !

NEVER EVER reply to spammers (this is just a hint for them that the email address is VALID !) !

And last but not least : I've come across a great resource that fights spam with their own methods at :

http://www.monkeys.com/wpoison/

This is a cgi-script that fights spam by creating dynamic email- addresses . The harvesting software collects that many email addresses that a lot of them are just rubbish for the owner who uses those methods .

Although you can reduce the amount of spam by adopting the rules and habits I mentioned in this article, I am quite sure that spammers will survive because not everybody knows how to prevent or reduce spam and those intruders will find new victims....

Article by Detlev Reimer. Feel free to use the article with these bylines included. Detlev has just finished creating his first product, a database program for Internet marketers which will help you to save and organize e.g. your advertising, customer and contact data. For further details, please visit : http://www.promobuddy.com/ . Sign up for his newsletter at http://www.internetmarketing-success.com/

Small Business Q & A: Beware Of Spam Withdrawals

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@dropshipwholesale.net
For information on starting your own online or eBay business, visit http://www.dropshipwholesale.net

Tim Knox as the president and CEO of two successful technology companies: B2Secure Inc., a Web-based hiring management software company; and Digital Graphiti Inc., a software development company. Tim is also the founder of dropshipwholesale.net, an ebusiness dedicated to the success of online entrepreneurs. http://www.dropshipwholesale.net http://www.smallbusinessqa.com

Spam Mania - Would you like to ruin a business? - Guilty Till Proven Innocent!

I felt compelled to write this article after a recent bad experience of my own. Spam vigilantes abound on the internet and unfortunately a right which every person should have in civilised democracies - in fact a basic human right - does not exist in relation to spam and spam complaints. This vigilante activity would not be tolerated offline - normally one cannot simply take the law into one's own hands but it seems this has become acceptable online. However below I do recommend a solution and an association which can help you.

INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY

And yes that is in capitals to shout at you - that is the single most important thing in any legal system. Also here is one more:

IT IS BETTER TO LET 99 GUILTY PEOPLE GO FREE RATHER THAN CONVICT ONE INNOCENT PERSON

If you bear these 2 principles in mind you will treat everyone else fairly and be treated fairly yourself. You get back 10 times in life what you give to others - just not necessarily from the same people that you give to.

Now the problem on the internet is that spam has no real precise definition and it is open to interpretation. What you view as unsolicited someone else may well appreciate. Now don't get me wrong, I don't advocate or support spam in any form whatsoever but I support innocent until proven guilty and a common sense approach.

For example you should only send out your newsletter to people who have requested it and not harvest email addresses from discussion forums. But what happens when someone forgets they have subscribed or is just too plain lazy to unsubscribe or contact you first to discuss the matter? Requiring someone to confirm their subscription will not protect you if you are presumed guilty. Many of you will have heard of SpamCop - a self made spam vigilante, who in my opinion does not act responsibly or obey the 2 most important principles stated above, which are necessary for any democracy to operate. Also SpamCop doesn't care less about small operators and unfairly favours big well known brand names.

From Spamcop's definition and comments about spam:

"In general, email from reputable companies, such as Microsoft and Amazon are opt-in, and if you receive email purporting to be from a company you would Normally consider being legitimate, you should consider carefully the possibility that you did agree to receive it some time in the past. If you are sure You did not, then it may be someone attempting to appear to be a representative of the company in question, but who actually does not have the consent of the company. Once in a while, a large, otherwise reputable organization will "accidentally" send out some unsolicited email. The main domain-name registry, Network Solutions, is a notable example of this. It has in the past sent outright spam and has been widely criticized for this action among spam-fighters. In any case, if you are sure that you did not request the email, then you are well within your rights to report it as spam."

Just because you think you didn't request it does not mean the person is guilty of spam. Then again maybe you have the right to be judge, jury and executioner :->

So if you can afford to spend millions, make a loss and develop your name, SpamCop thinks you are then innocent until proven guilty but if you are poor and like most of us you are guilty - talk about justice for the Rich only.

I want you to think carefully - and then think again - and then sleep on it - before you report someone for spam. Their business, their very future, and the income they use to support their family is at stake. I am not being melodramatic as you will see when I tell you my personal story now.

Recently I changed distribution sources for sending out my ezine. I did not trust my ezine in the hands of anyone else and my previous system was unreliable so I now use a system on my own domain. However I had a problem exporting the subscribers from my previous service. I therefore had to use copies of subscription request emails that I had on my computer. I knew that this meant I would be importing some people who had already unsubscribed. However I gave a full explanation in my ezine and a surprise gift when people unsubscribed to make up for it.

However obviously some people weren't content with my humble apology and explanation. I was reported to SpamCop. Did Spamcop contact me first to discuss the matter? Did they tell me who the complainer was (a well known principle of all justice systems also where an accused has the right to confront their accuser)? Did they even think this ezine may have been opt in and do nothing? No on all counts!

Spamcop contacted the hosting upline that my site was on and a little while later sent me an email. I won't reveal the host here as that may prevent this article getting published (as lots of you are probably hosted on them) but the host didn't bother contacting me either, they just closed my domain instantly. Did they assume I might be innocent either? No! I only found out when I went to check my site - you should do this regularly.

Eventually I resolved the matter with the hosting upline but throughout this whole process I was a condemned man - convicted and sentenced to death without even getting a hearing first - let alone a fair one. For heavens sake, even some third world dictatorships pretend to have a fair trial - not even that happened here.

So a complaint was made to Spamcop - they accepted it without question - heh, after all I'm not a big name and even if the person forgets they have subscribed Spamcop says that is still spam - and then my website went down.

Now I was lucky - I don't scare too easily and I don't give up a fight. However I admit this episode was terrifying and caused me lost sleep. It also made me realise how fragile your business can be and how we must all fight against such hysteria - we must remain innocent until proven guilty.

Personally if I reported spam I would want it investigated and both sides given a chance to explain themselves before any action was taken. I don't think this is too much to ask do you?

So please think very carefully before reporting spam and contact the person who sent the email first to discuss the matter. Remember, if you don't one day you could end up in this sort of trouble yourself.

HE WHO LIVES BY THE SWORD DIES BY THE SWORD

Don't use your sword and simply send off a spam complaint without thinking. Take it very seriously because the consequences are ultra serious.

However all is not gloom and doom. There is an organisation I have discovered that is fighting back against these self proclaimed spam vigilantes. E-crucible is a wonderful organisation which I encourage you all to join for Free and help them in their mission. Here is their mission statement and website:

http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R18328_ecrucible

e-Crucible, Inc. is committed to returning sanity and responsibility to the Internet. We feel that the hysteria regarding the use of what is termed "Unsolicited Commercial Email" (UCE or "Spam") that is prevalent in the Internet culture today is unfair, irresponsible and counter- productive to maintaining the Internet as a free marketplace.

The Internet respects no national boundaries. Therefore, any policies regarding the Internet will be most effective if made at the international level. We will advocate for a fair and reasonable INTERNATIONAL policy regarding "Unsolicited Commercial Email" (UCE or "Spam") and its fair enforcement by all Internet Service Providers.

We are commited to opposing by any ethical, political, and legal means available the vigilante activities of "anti- Spam" fanatics and the unfair and unjust handling of "Spam" complaints by certain Internet Service Providers.

The Internet is the greatest tool for freedom in the history of mankind. e-Crucible believes in maintaining the Internet as a free marketplace for the exchange of ideas, products and services.

I highly commend E-crucible to you and urge you to join their email discussion list to discuss these matters here:

mailto:e-crucible-subscribe@topica.com

You might not think you will have your life ruined by a spam complaint but believe me, it can happen. I am not ruined myself, but I will personally fight to bring some sanity back to the spam debate. I hope you will support our cause and bring fairness and democracy back to the internet. Remember, we should all be innocent until proven guilty.

Dale Reardon. Owner of the WebResources Newsletter.

Subscribe to the WebResources Ezine for cutting edge marketing advice and practical marketing tips. Free:

Handling Spam: Responding

Most spam messages will include a link at the bottom which states something
like "to remove yourself from the list click here ...". On the surface this
seems innocent enough, but if you do respond you are potentially increasing
the amount of spam that you receive by many times.

Wait a minute. You mean you ask to be removed and instead not only are you
not removed but you will get more spam than ever? How can that be so?
To understand why you must first understand how spamming works. You see,
spammers operate by getting zillions and zillions of email addresses however
they can.

Sometimes they purchase CD collections of "15 million clean email addresses"
or "5 million email addresses" for some small amount of money. I've seen
these collections as cheap as $9.95 (one wonders how clean these collections
are).

Another common tactic is to use spiders to scan thousands of web pages for
email addresses. These addresses are then added to a database which is then
sold or used.

And sometimes the spammers just pick a domain and send their spam to a
variety of possible email addresses at that domain. They just pick a domain
and use a dictionary of names and send every one of those names to the
domain. Those that generate a bounced (error) message are deleted from the
list.

So you see, the spammer begins with a list of email addresses which are not
validated. They are simply known to not have returned a bounce message (an
error indicating an email account did not exist). However, what is not known
is that a human being is actually reading the mail from that mailbox.

The problem with responding is that you validate for the spammer that a
human exists at that email address. This increases the value of your email
address by many times. A smart spammer can actually sell these verified
addresses to collections of "clean" lists.

Of course if you actually buy something from the spammer you've increased
the value of your email address to astronomical levels. In this case, you
may find yourself added to countless "sucker" lists, receiving countless
offers from the most obscure places.

Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This
website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet
profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm
Daily Tips: mailto:internet-tips@GetResponse.com

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

Spam Filters & Blockers: The Solution To Unsolicited Email?

Spam is a term that, for the vast majority of us, has a very negative connotation. How could it be different when the average Internet user gets over 50 pieces of junk email per day? Moreover, research indicates that by 2006 the average internet user can expect to receive at least 5,000 pieces of spam per year. That sure is a giant amount of spam!

None of us want to waste our time, our bandwidth and our hard drive space to receive spam and then delete it. Because our day-to-day lives are delayed, interrupted and significantly disturbed by this large number of unsolicited email, software manufacturers have developed a number of products especially designed to fight spam. These products might be called spam filters, anti spam filters, e-mail filters, spam blockers and even spam killers. Regardless of the name, their purpose remains the same: to eliminate the spam in your inbox. We have not yet seen a spam filter that achieves 100% accuracy but the latest products launched into the market as well as the newest versions of existing products are proving to be more and more successful.

In case you are wondering specifically what these products do and how they do it, you should know that a spam filter is a program that - web based, server based or installed locally - prevents spam email from being downloaded to your PC. The spam filter itself operates on the basis of rules, which means that the spam fighting program will examine your incoming email and match it against a set of pre-defined criteria. If the email does not match those rules, then it is either: a) Deleted, or b) Quarantined for Review. There are three basic types of traditional anti-spam software:

1) Plug-ins for email clients - These anti spam programs run on your computer and require all received spam to be downloaded before they start sorting it.

2) Standalone applications - These spam blockers also run on your computer and communicate with the email server multiple times each hour to check your POP mailbox for spam and delete it. They constantly run in the background, using up resources and bandwidth.

3) Server-based email spam filters - Many ISPs and email servers (Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, etc.) have installed email filtering software that scans email for certain triggers, which may include certain phrases, formatting, and aggressive writing styles. A server based spam filter is designed to examine the email being sent to your Internet Service Provider or local area network and to filter it effectively before the email is delivered to you. When this works, it works effectively, however it is not perfect. Unfortunately, many unfair marketers have learned to fool spam filters while a lot of legitimate emails are blocked by them.

Of the spam filters that are on the market at the moment the vast majority of them need to be installed to your hard drive. However, there is a move towards spam filters that do all the work online before the email ever gets to your computer. Most of todays email applications come with a basic spam filter that allows you to block email from specific addresses. Some more complicated email software allows you to configure rules just for that software itself. This can get pretty complex pretty quickly! But people who suffer from tons of spam want a simple solution to their problem - not more headaches. On this note, one of the most popular PC-based spam solutions on the market today is Mailwasher Pro, which has a really nice feature that allows you to send a reply to the spammer that mimics a mailer daemon error message; that is, when the spammer gets this message from you he assumes your email address no longer exists. Simple but effective.

Other well-known spam blockers are iHate Spam, McAfee Spamkiller, Spam Inspector 4.0, Spam Arrest, Qurb, Choicemail One, among others. iHate Spam is an easy-to-use and effective spam filtering solution for Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Incredimail and Hotmail users. McAfee Spamkiller has several innovative features such as protection against Dictionary Attacks (made up names) and foreign language spam, and also supports Outlook, Outlook Express and other popular email programs. Based on personal and global learning networks, Spam Inspector 4.0 adapts itself to your email automatically, filtering out the junk mail with an impressive accuracy.

A particular type of spam filters are the so-called Bayesian spam filters. These are considered intelligent filters, because they are capable of comparing two sets of information and acting on the result. This differentiating feature of Bayesian filters is in direct opposition with the vast majority of other spam filters which use pre-built rules to decide which email is spam and which is not. Bayesian spam filters take one group of legitimate email and another group of spam, and then compare the values and data of each. They look for obvious repeating patterns to form an opinion on something. In spam filter terms that opinion becomes a rule. The definition of legitimate email that they create at the end of this comparison session is what they use going forward to scan your inbox for spam. Yes indeed, these spam filters are capable of learning. For example, if the filter blocked an email because it was perceived as junk, then the user marked it as a valid email, then t!

hey will not to block that type of email in the future. Thus, in time, this type of spam filter learns enough to block spam far more effectively. Some of the Bayesian spam filtering options available today include AOLs Communicator product, Eudora, and Spambully. Although the latter is a fairly new product, it is already making waves in the sea of spam fighting software. Spambully provides an integrated solution for users of both Outlook and Outlook Express, and its creators claim it can remove 99% of spam.

Finally we would like to point out two free spam blockers that provide good filtering capabilities. They are prime examples of Bayesian spam filters and perfect examples that freeware does not necessarily mean low quality. The first of these products is called Popfile and the second one is called Spampal. Both are Windows only software products.

In conclusion, although no spam blocking product can currently guarantee 100% accuracy, one thing is for sure: the more positive, affirmative action you take against spammers by deleting, blocking and/or blacklisting them, the less spam you will receive. Spam filters and spam blockers can really help us along the fierce battle against spam. The more action we take, the smaller the spam problem will become. Wouldnt that make us happier?

If you want to learn more about this and other related topics, check out www.Anti-Spam-League.org. This organization offers free membership and the chance to access a wide amount of relevant information on privacy, spam, email abuse, Internet fraud, responsible marketing and several other topics.

The purpose of the Anti SPAM League is to help consumers and business owners reduce the amount of SPAM they receive. In addition, our Anti SPAM organization believes that educating site owners in the area of SPAM prevention and ways to successfully and responsibly market their sites, is key in making a difference.

mike@anti-spam-league.org