Affliate spam and Willful Blindness By Host

[Devilwolf]

I'm been getting a ton of lawsuit referral spam similar to the stuff in this article

http://blogs.mcafee.com/mcafee-labs/peerin...arketing-window

The spammer web page is hosted at lunarpages.com

http://www.lunarpages.com/acceptable-use/

Which is playing the game of

You cannot prove our client is spamming because the client is not sending the emails and you can't prove the client authorized the Russian spammers to spam on their behalf, even though the AUP states

"You agree not use your account to or otherwise knowingly or otherwise permit the violation any provision of the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-spam ACT)"

This sort of logic by the host basically gives a free pass for companies to hire spammers because you can never prove they hired the spammer w/o investing in a lawsuit and doing a discovery.

So I want fall back to plan B, which is file complaints with everyone from the California AG and BBB, FTC etc.

I know lunarpages is being willfully blind towards the actions of their client, but I'm not quite sure how to explain that in a regulatory complaint.

Sample of spam

http://www.spamcop.net/sc?id=z4578577412ze...01649b066f376cz

They did slip up and forwarded an email between them and the client to me...

Does not matter if they are sending from there server. We are receiving the complaints because we host the the domain advertised in the spam. Service such as Spamhause will blacklist the IP not only of the address sending the email but Also the IP the domain in the spam message is on.

So thing like and aggressive affiliate could get them blacklisted if not careful.

Any advice on how to help get their IP blacklisted with nice folks over at Spamhaus?

[Farelf]

...Any advice on how to help get their IP blacklisted with nice folks over at Spamhaus?

Nope, their FAQ says no: http://www.spamhaus.org/faq/answers

Lunarpages is certainly being disingenuous - the email source and the spamvertized domain in the example given both track back to the same network - KROKUS (presumably ignoring SC reports, they can certainly verify specific customers responsible) but the emails seem to be snowshoed if they're all coming from there. It seems SH invite information from ISPs if that is the case - http://www.spamhaus.org/css/index.lasso

...Spamhaus appreciates any information supplied to us by ISPs that can help identify a snowshoe spam customer for our records.

They would probably listen to SC staff too but I imagine looking for and verifying snowshoe operations is outside of the staff's remit/authority.

[Devilwolf]

Well I found the home address of the CEO, maybe I'll send him a physical letter and include printouts of the articles on his client that both mcaffee and Sophos have written using his client as prime examples of how snow shoe spam works.

http://www.sophos.com/blogs/sophoslabs/?p=9800

I think that between that article and mcaffee's I have enough evidence to make a claim of false advertising against Lunarpages with the BBB and California AG for not honoring their advertised AUP.

Too bad the California Bar will not investigate fake lawyer referral services.