And there is the second false positive. Both have been from gmail accounts
and both were due to spamcop listing that specific gmail server as a source
of spam. 

Notice that in the reject message there was given a phone number to call...
Not that I would expect that to be used, but my point is that some alternate
form of communication can be provided. 

I'm in the process of modifying the server to send back a message with a url
to a web page that explains why the message was rejected, what to do about
it, apologies for the false positive and gives another method of contact.

I may extend that to the point of allowing the blocked sender to white list
themselves... Or not... 

Note that the 553 error code returned tells the sending server that the
email address it was trying to deliver the email to was not valid. A spammer
will use that return code to "cull" his or her list of email addresses.
Hopefully removing my email address from the list, with the result that they
will not even attempt to spam me in the future. This is only possible with
blocking at the instant of delivery. Most email spam systems accept the
delivery (confirming to the spammer that the email address was valid) and
then later reject or tag the email based on a listing from spamcop et all.

Another point here is that Mike now knows that spamcop has listed his gmail
server. He can go to spamcop and not only see why, but also, in most cases,
request that spamcop de-list the server. Actually, in this case, it would
require someone on the gmail team to do that, and I think this listing is
pretty bogus: In fact, spamcop has de-listed it already. But if Mike were
with a local ISP, and they were not being really careful about their users
sending spam, with the current, after-the-fact RBL blocking systems, Mike
would never know that. With this instant blocking, Mike will get indications
from all the people he tries to email that his ISP is being black listed.
This gives him the option of contacting his ISP to try to pressure them into
cleaning up their act, or of getting a separate email account with a
reputable service.

---
James.
 
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu 
> [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu] On Behalf Of Mike Singer
> Sent: 2006 Sep 12, Tue 23:49
> To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public.
> Subject: Re: [OT] please test the new email server
> 
> I got:
> 
> This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification
> 
> Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:
> 
>     jamesnewton@massmind.org
> 
> Technical details of permanent failure:
> PERM_FAILURE: SMTP Error (state 8): 553 66.249.82.237 - 
> spamcop.com says you spam. Call 1-951-587-9740,3# if not.
> --
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