On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:55:36 +0800, TonyS
wrote:
Where is all this spam coming from?
Most email spam comes from users PC's taken over by a botnet. Since
email and usenet readers are often common, some of the email spam is
leaking over to usenet.
Can hardly find the posts.
Or is it just my news server, no one seams do mind?
Usenet news providers put quite a bit of effort into filtering out the
spam. Every once in a while, a large amount leaks through. It lasts
for a day or two, a filter gets crafted by the usenet news provider,
and life continues normally. Different Usenet news providers have
different philosophies about spam. Supernews used to be very
aggressive at eliminating spam, resulting in about 1 in 20 of my
posting just disappearing because something I included was treated as
spam. Other services advertise that they're "censorship free" which
simply means they don't bother doing any filtering for spam.
http://www.exit109.com/~jeremy/news/cleanfeed/
Is there anything that can be done about it?
1. Don't click on the included links. That's how the spammers
determine if their advertising is effective.
2. Don't buy from spammers. A large number of people buy from them,
mostly because of the price and easy availability (i.e. Viagra).
3. Complain to your usenet provider.
4. Tell Google that they've switched from "Do no evil" to being the
source of much evil. They need to do some enforcement, but that's
difficult since usenet news does not generate any advertising revenue.
5. Do your own filtering. I use nfilter:
http://www.nfilter.org
http://www.fitnwell.net/nfilter.htm
http://www.subgenius.com/updates/X0018_Nfilter-_A_Spam_Filt.html
http://www.saska.co.uk/nfilter/nfilter_faq_modified.html
This is old technology, but still works quite well.
Like fines for anyone who ever buys anything from a spammer?
It's not just for sale advertising that's a problem. There's also
political, religious, flying saucer, and personal agenda advertising.
Enforcement at the source is almost impossible.
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060
http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558