SCN as a spam problem

[John Johnson]

Spam--unsolicited bulk e-mail--has become a major problem on the Internet. 
And SCN has become part of the problem. 

We are being used as a 'spam relay' to innundate others, and other sites
are complaining that we have not corrected this.  We have reached the
point where other sites may begin refusing connections from SCN.  And the
traffic generated burdens our Internet connection, and could imperil its
continued availability.  For these reasons I say that we need to deal with
this spam relay problem--effectively, and immediately.  It is not just
another urgent priority--it is a critical problem of paramount importance. 

We have a simple spam filter in place now which reputedly removes all but
a small portion of the spam.  But to judge by the irate mail we are
receiving from other sites, that small portion is much too great. 
Additional technical work is being undertaken (like installing a new
version of the 'sendmail' program, and other software).  But these steps 
are only protective responses--they don't really get to the basic problem.

Because spam has become such a major problem, I wonder if we should make a
major multi-pronged response.  I therefore propose, and ask the Board to
consider, organizing a set of Anti-spam Task Groups (or some such) with
tasks along the following lines: 

1- Oversight.
   A group of folks to monitor the news groups, do other research,
generally keep in touch with what is happening and look for resources, and
then share that (possibly via summaries and a local newsgroup) and
generally be a resource for the other task groups.  Arrange coordination
with other sites or groups. 

2- Technical.
   A subset of Hardware/Software to do needed technical things on SCN
(like upgrading sendmail, installing spam filters, etc.).  Also to set up
monitoring and guard our gate.

3- User education.
   A group to determine what our users need to know about spam and what to
do--and not to do!--about it, and provide useful user-oriented resources
(such as a Web page with links to principal anti-spam sites).  A lot of
this would go into the Help Desk and Help Pages, but someone needs to get
the information and package it. 

4- Political.
   Yes!  Let's organize exploration of what can be done, build a
consensus, and then organize our members to be a potent, effective force for 
lobbying public officials and any other levers of power. 

5- Legal.
   Does the law provide us with any remedies to computer trespass and
theft of services?  This needs research, and documentation.  And several
people to build contacts in the proper places. 

This proposal would be a major effort, but is quite workable if we break
the tasks into small, well-coordinated pieces.  And I doubt if spam will
be curbed by anything less. 

"Put up or shut up" has a second and even third meaning here:  if we do
nothing, Internet e-mail service and newsgroups could even collapse due to
spam.  More immediately, SCN could be cut-off from the Internet if we
don't get our own house in order.  So--do we really even have a choice? 

=== JJ =================================================================

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