In <[log in to unmask]> [log in to unmask] writes:

> What is the netiqettely correct (NC) response to un-solicited
> advertisements on the net.  I get TONS of these daily.
>
> For example BuyByNet, Inc at [log in to unmask] sends astrology
> listings and wants me to send back "remove" to remove me from their
> automatic system.  I don't want to get their spam, I don't want
> to have to reply to their automatic process.

I never trust their "remove" scams, since often the spammers send to mailing
lists where they can't see the end recipients addresses, and I suspect as
often as not, if you respond at all, they'll just trap your actual address
and you'll end up on even more junk mail lists.

> How do you discourage companies like this in a gentle yet properly
> persuasive fashion?

Unfortunately, the best option is to not read them (if your mailer has a
kill list use that)... if not the subjects USUALLY indicate that they're
not something worth reading. Some of the spammers are real idiots, and
sometimes will strike back at users attempting to flood them with
complaints. It's usually not worthwhile, since a dedicated idiot can still
cause you more trouble than you (or your company) can afford; and do it in
ways that you'd be hard-pressed to prove in court (if it ever got that far).
SYN denial of service attacks, e-mail floods, ping-of-death attacks, or
publishing your name/personal/company info to the wrong people are just a
couple of simple ways that someone could make your life/job difficult - and
there is little you can really do in any of these cases.

<SEMI-PLUG> For DeskLink or NetMail users (commercial or freeware versions)
there's a file called "refuse.data.threek" that we ship with a list of know
spammers -which can be customized by any customer- which causes any incoming
mail from any address listed in the file to be refused before it ever even
enters your system. A somewhat satisfying side-effect of this technique is
that the mail bounces back to the sender without ever entering (and taking up
space in) your system. The actual sender of the message (not just the
possibly forged e-mail address within the message) gets a bounce in his/her
mailbox, with a message informing him/her that "your mail was refused because
this site does not accept trash mail from spammers". <I got a lot of satis-
faction just COMPOSING that message!> We even send a one-line message to the
console telling you that a spam message was refused. <I LOVE seeing those
messages... :-) >

For anyone interested, we try to keep our spam/refuse file up to date by
tracking some of the blacklisted spammer web sites, but fyi here's the
current list (pardon the bandwidth):

-------------------------------cut here------------------------------------
#
# records starting with "*" mean <anything> from that domain.org
# records starting with "#"s are comments
#
# financial spams
[log in to unmask]
*creditwise.com
# pyramid marketing spams
*valleynet.net
# Jeff Slaton's SpamHaus
*sftcell.com
# spamming company
*moneyworld.com
# promote your website spams
delores*@ix.netcom.com
delores*@gis.net
# spammers
*ppgsoft.com
*ppginc.com
# 2nd occurrence 29 Nov 1995
*bristol.com
# 1st occurrence 24 Feb 1996
*edo.com
# 1st occurrence 20 Mar 1996
*cvcom.com
walt*phoenixnet.com
*bluefin.net
# 2nd occurrence 23 May 1996
*exd78295*interramp.com
# 1st occurrence 27 Jun 1996
*cyber0.*sprynet.com
*cyber0.*ix.netcom.com
# 1st occurrence 30 Jun 1996 -- chain letter
*KORBS*ix.netcom.com
# 1st occurrence 17 Jul 1996 - "Creative Financial Alternatives"
*[log in to unmask]
# 1st occurrence 18 Jul 1996 - grocery club spam
*[log in to unmask]
# 1st occurrence 21 Jul 1996 - travel club spam
*clubdiscount.com
# 1st occurrence 21 Jul 1996 - care financial group
*[log in to unmask]
# Lifestyle E-Mail Network
*len-update.com
# Assorted others
*sunsetdirect.com
*promo-ent.com
*natureplus.com
*cyberdevinc.com
[log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask]
*earthstar.com
[log in to unmask]
*lvsweeties.com
*progressfort.com
[log in to unmask]
*softcell.net
# computer h/w spammers
[log in to unmask]
-------------------------------cut here------------------------------------

                  -Chris Bartram