Internet e-mail servers that forward e-mail aimed at third
parties, known as open mail relays, are used by those sending spam,
to disguise the origin of their unsolicited commercial e-mail. Now,
according to Wired.com news, a list of these servers is circulating
that lets e-mail administrators block traffic from their
systems.
Anti-spam activists test mail relays and, if they find them open
and without restriction, they add them to a list for server
administrators to avoid. Closing open mail relays is seen as a key
method of blocking spam. Activists interviewed by Wired suggest a
90% reduction in spam because the senders, without use of open mail
relays, would be forced to use more costly and more traceable
alternatives.
A New Zealander, Alan Brown, was recently forced by court order
to close down his web site, orbs.org, that made available such a
list. It followed action in New Zealand by companies aggrieved at
having their servers included in the list. However, other sites
have made the list of around 94,000 servers available, including
one in Basingstoke, England, called Open Relay Block Zone, which
states:
"ORB UK publishes a list of machines which,
based on evidence held by ORB UK, are Open SMTP Relays which have,
or are likely to be, used as conduits for sending unsolicited bulk
email. By publishing this list, ORB UK allows system administrators
to choose to accept or deny email exchange with these servers. ORB
UK also separately lists machines that cannot be tested after being
demonstrably open relays able to be used for Third Party
Relay."
