Slashdot Mirror
Unplugging Email To Combat Spam
monkeyserver.com writes "from Reuters (via CNN) we hear that 'Consumers who allow their infected computers to send out millions of 'spam' messages could be unplugged from the Internet under a proposal released Tuesday by six large e-mail providers.' They are looking at 100 per hour or 500 per day; this doesn't really sound like a bad idea, though it could cause problems for a few people trying to run companies from their basement..." On the other side of the coin, rastakid writes "It appears that Microsoft is taking its actions against spamming a little bit too far: Hotmail accounts which are suspected of sending spam are closed without a single investigation. This article states that Maariv International registered a new Hotmail account and sent an abuse message about spamming activities from that account, while not a single message was sent from it. Microsoft closed the account immediately, without investigating."
...So the system can be up-to-date with all known patches, and still be attacked. Fining people for things that flat-out aren't their fault is likely to be, at best, contrary to the ISPs customers idea about what makes a good ISP...
I work at an ISP where we do virus removals on customers computers. If someone comes in with a virus, we determine whether it slipped through the email virus scanning. If so, we don't charge them. Otherwise it's usually about half an hour labour to clean the system up. Sooo...basically, if it isn't their fault, there's no charge. Mind you, that's if our system doesn't keep the customer's email clean. Whether their Norton or AVG is up to date or not, and the virus didn't come through email, or they're not on email virus scanning, then we charge them for labour regardless where the virus came from.
Hope be with ye,
Cyan