spamgourmet about to be shut down due to spamcop reports

[spamgourmet]

Not sure which forum to post in, so I'll try here.

This is a message to spamcop users who are also spamgourmet users. This applies to very few of you here, but it will impact over 250k spamgourmet users.

Spamgourmet's hosting provider is about to shut us down because of numerous reports by spamcop users of spamgourmet's IP addresses I believe due to improper mailhost configuration. As you may know, when a message goes through spamgourmet, the headers of the originating servers are preserved, then headers are added for spamgourmet, then it comes to you. When you report the message to spamcop, if you include the spamgourmet server along with the originating server in your report, our hosting provider automatically gets a notice from spamcop telling them that we're spammers.

Our IP addresses are 216.75.62.81 and 216.75.62.102 (and have been for years).

This has been a problem for quite a while, but has increased in frequency recently. Initially, and whenever they have personnel turnover, the hosting provider (cari.net) accuses me of being a spammer, which is pretty messed up, but you have to hand it to them for executing on their policy. But more troubling now: they know that the reports are false, and yet they also know the potential consequences for them and their other customers are real, and at a minimum they're having to spend a lot of time on the issue -- so they're saying they're going to shut us down if the reports don't stop. Can you blame them?

If they shut us down, that will pretty much be it for spamgourmet - I don't see myself going through the monumental effort of moving the service (and where? Um, I've got this strange service that pulls email for 6 million addresses and I can't pay you much because it's free, and, oh, you'll be getting a bunch of false spamcop reports...).

Effective immediately, I have no choice but to quickly and quietly disable any spamgourmet account that is the basis for a false spamcop report - it's the only way I can immediately tell the hosting provider that the problem has been resolved (at least for that one reporting user). Trouble is, even this may not be enough because there are a number of you, and I have no way of knowing who you are until you make the report, and very soon there'll be one too many reports.

Josh

[SpamCopAdmin]

I have fixed is so that reports about 216.75.62.81 and 216.75.62.102 will come to me instead of Cari.net. The reports will not be charged against Cari.net as spam.

That will take the pressure off of you and allow me to adjust my user's reporting settings.

I am really sorry about all the trouble we have caused you. Hopefully, it will all be over now.

Please feel free to write to me directly at any time: Service[at]Admin.SpamCop.net

- Don D'Minion - SpamCop Admin -

- Service[at]Admin.SpamCop.net -

[spamgourmet]

I have fixed is so that reports about 216.75.62.81 and 216.75.62.102 will come to me instead of Cari.net. The reports will not be charged against Cari.net as spam.

Awesome solution, Don - better than whitelisting (which, among other things, might tend to raise the value of my system as a compromise target - I try to keep the value low as possible). Thanks!!

[InvisiBill]

People using Spamgourmet along with SpamCop reporting should also add it to their own mailhosts at http://www.spamcop.net/mcgi?action=mhedit (using a Spamgourmet-protected address). This will allow the parser to recognize the Spamgourmet hosts in addition to your own mailservers, so it should parse back through to the server that actually sent it to Spamgourmet. It prevents reports against Spamgourmet and reports the actual spammers - a win-win situation.