Hate Spam? SpamCop to the rescue!
Sep 12 '00 (Updated Oct 03 '00)
If spam were an epinions product category, it would be at the top of my "Hate It" list. I've been known to go to great lengths to track down spammers and get them cut off. [Special note to college students who think they're too smart to be caught: you're not. Don't send me any pyramid schemes, porno solicitations or other extracurricular email propositions unless you don't mind my forwarding them to your college administration. I Know Who You Are.]
Time constraints being what they are, though, I'll often just let my email filters automatically toss the &*$?@-ing emails into the trash. Until now. I've discovered <musical flourish> .... SpamCop! Or, more formally, <http://www.spamcop.net>.
SpamCop is the site for reporting and filtering out spam. In addition to a wealth of information on the topic, SpamCop offers two services. Their free service is a really nifty reporting service. After a quick registration process, in which they email you a URL which will uniquely identify you to their service, you simply copy the entire offending email you've received (don't forget to include all the headers) and paste it into SpamCop's convenient form.
SpamCop automatically analyzes the message headers to identify the real source of the email (spammers often try to obscure their identity by forging headers) and generates an email, addressed from you, reporting the abuse to the appropriate authority at the offender's ISP. Naturally, you get to review this email before it gets sent out.
In addition to this free reporting service, SpamCop offers spam-filtered email accounts at a cost of $0.50 per megabyte. Depending on your email volume, that probably amounts to between $10-25 per year. They suggest using these accounts for posting publicly on web sites, mailing lists or newsgroups. Not a bad idea, but I'm too cheap to spring for a new email address when I have other means of filtering my email.
The free reporting service, though, is a really neat idea and one I haven't seen elsewhere. It takes the drudgery out of tracking down spam while leaving the wonderfully self-righteous glee in it. I recommend it to everyone. Spammers beware!
Amount Paid (US$): free!
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Epinions.com ID:
theeye
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Location: New York, NY (it's a hell of a town!)
Reviews written: 66
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About Me:
Company president, math geek, first time mom at 39, epinion addict. Sleep? Not lately.
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