So what if there's no posted timeframe for removal? If a provider is responsive to abuse reports, they won't be in SPEWS. No one is forcing other ISPs to use SPEWS - if SPEWS had entries that most ISPs would consider unreasonable, the ISPs that use SPEWS would simply stop rejecting messages based on that list. To get delisted, simply boot the spammers off - if your network is infested with spammers I don't want any SMTP traffic from your network.
At least with SPEWS if the spewage stops, delisting eventually happens - think of all the private lists that there are, and the probability that the blacklist entries will be there until the mail machine is decommissioned or is reinstalled.
Some problems are that many UCE messages come from unprotected relays/proxies, and dedicated spamhausen are often located offshore, having been booted from local ISPs. There is also the requirement of proving the origin of said messages. I suspect that legislating anti-spam rules won't be as effective at reducing this annoyance as lawmakers hope.
When I look at the number of messages our mailserver blocks using rules from DNSBL servers, I am amazed at the amount of junk spammers are trying to send through open relays and directly from spam houses. Blocking helps somewhat reduce the amount of spam, but still there is a lot of junk that gets through.
I have put floppy drives in all the boxes that I've built. The drive isn't very useful for transferring data, however there are times when having the option of booting off some other media is helpful. Often this is when the machine is misbehaving, and having the ability to boot off the floppy makes for faster troubleshooting.
Of course, since the CD is bootable, for many people the floppy isn't required.
They probably only want the logs so that they can narrow down the set of people that they should interrogate, not for actual legal use yet. This suggest that if you're browsing stuff that you don't want the authorities to know about, better use a proxy server.
I wonder what headaches such things would cause for the operators of proxies?
Use of DNSBL also reduces the number of entries that are added to private blacklists, which are often "append only until someone complains". Some lists are there until the mail host is replaced, so connectivity from some netblocks will always be impaired to some degree. DNSBLs have a greater effect when entries are added, but at least there is some mechanism for removing entries, even if it involves removing spammers from a network. I utilize some DNSBLs, and although a large amount of unsolicited commercial email still gets through, there is a significant reduction in spam, and complaints about spam from our customers. The presence of DNSBLs also makes ISPs somewhat more accountable, and more likely to check out people who what to host domains like bulklolitasandmorgages4u-optin, and makes them aware that supporting senders of UCE could impair their connectivity.
Often there is a mind set that you have to pay money for software that's good. For some people, the discovery that they can get free(as in beer) software that is useful warms them up to the idea of using free software. The "open source" part appeals more to knowledgable people who are capable of building the program from sources.
If the box came with windows and some prepackaged software, that has already been paid for, so there may be no perceived cost advantage of changing to linux or one of the BSD distributions. The other operating systems hold some fascination for people with a tinkering nature, but for those who are less knowledgable and want to use their computer in a limited way (browsing, email) there is little motivation to change anything.
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So what if there's no posted timeframe for removal? If a provider is responsive to abuse reports, they won't be in SPEWS. No one is forcing other ISPs to use SPEWS - if SPEWS had entries that most ISPs would consider unreasonable, the ISPs that use SPEWS would simply stop rejecting messages based on that list. To get delisted, simply boot the spammers off - if your network is infested with spammers I don't want any SMTP traffic from your network. At least with SPEWS if the spewage stops, delisting eventually happens - think of all the private lists that there are, and the probability that the blacklist entries will be there until the mail machine is decommissioned or is reinstalled.
Some problems are that many UCE messages come from unprotected relays/proxies, and dedicated spamhausen are often located offshore, having been booted from local ISPs. There is also the requirement of proving the origin of said messages. I suspect that legislating anti-spam rules won't be as effective at reducing this annoyance as lawmakers hope. When I look at the number of messages our mailserver blocks using rules from DNSBL servers, I am amazed at the amount of junk spammers are trying to send through open relays and directly from spam houses. Blocking helps somewhat reduce the amount of spam, but still there is a lot of junk that gets through.
I have put floppy drives in all the boxes that I've built. The drive isn't very useful for transferring data, however there are times when having the option of booting off some other media is helpful. Often this is when the machine is misbehaving, and having the ability to boot off the floppy makes for faster troubleshooting. Of course, since the CD is bootable, for many people the floppy isn't required.
They probably only want the logs so that they can narrow down the set of people that they should interrogate, not for actual legal use yet. This suggest that if you're browsing stuff that you don't want the authorities to know about, better use a proxy server. I wonder what headaches such things would cause for the operators of proxies?
Use of DNSBL also reduces the number of entries that are added to private blacklists, which are often "append only until someone complains". Some lists are there until the mail host is replaced, so connectivity from some netblocks will always be impaired to some degree. DNSBLs have a greater effect when entries are added, but at least there is some mechanism for removing entries, even if it involves removing spammers from a network. I utilize some DNSBLs, and although a large amount of unsolicited commercial email still gets through, there is a significant reduction in spam, and complaints about spam from our customers. The presence of DNSBLs also makes ISPs somewhat more accountable, and more likely to check out people who what to host domains like bulklolitasandmorgages4u-optin, and makes them aware that supporting senders of UCE could impair their connectivity.
Often there is a mind set that you have to pay money for software that's good. For some people, the discovery that they can get free(as in beer) software that is useful warms them up to the idea of using free software. The "open source" part appeals more to knowledgable people who are capable of building the program from sources. If the box came with windows and some prepackaged software, that has already been paid for, so there may be no perceived cost advantage of changing to linux or one of the BSD distributions. The other operating systems hold some fascination for people with a tinkering nature, but for those who are less knowledgable and want to use their computer in a limited way (browsing, email) there is little motivation to change anything.