Sorbs.net So Called Spam Lister.

You know you have some people who really think they are God's gift to the Internet. They think they know everything and they believe that everyone should bow to their superior knowledge. Usually that is how someone who is really inferior deals with their own shortcomings.

The people who run Sorbs.net are perfect examples of the type of people I am talking about. If anyone isn't familiar with this group you should be. They blacklist domain names whenever one of the group decides to basically.

Besides this blog I also run a nonprofit missing children organization. Through it's websites and blogs we provide a lot of safety information and other valuable content.

Having a name like kidsearchnetwork.blogspot.com isn't as nice as http://www.missingchildrenblog.com

mostwantednewspaper.blogspot.com isn't as good as mostwantednewspaper.com

There are places I don't use ThingsThatJustPissMeOff.Blogspot.com in my signature line out of politeness, instead I use newsandmediablog.com

I can do this by registering a domain name and doing a url redirect to point at the blog. It's much better than the longer names. When you do a url redirect, you are not actually on a web host. You can't send email from that domain name. At least not at my registrar.

However the good folks at sorbs.net has put these three domain names on a blacklist for spamming. It says on their website that they only do that if one of their "administrators" gets a spam email from one of those domain names.

Since I cannot send mail from those domain names, that pretty much makes them liars. They are causing harm to a nonprofit missing children organization due to their superior attitude and self-serving behavior.

If you type any one of those domain names into your browser or click those links you will see what I do is legitimate. That pretty much means that since sorbs has decided to attack this missing children's organization, I will now have to defend it with any legal means necessary.

Anyone who uses their so-called service should be aware that blocking the use of my legitimately registered domain names will get them also named in any lawsuit I file.

I tried to deal with them through their website. But they assume they know everything there is to know.

How did I get listed in the first place...?

There are many possibilities.

The IP address that you use for your outgoing mail was used to send spam to a SORBS spamtrap or administrator. Hmmm, since I have no OUTGOING MAIL SERVER I guess that doesn't apply

There are multiple possibilities for how this could have happened:

You spammed directly. Hmmm, since I have no OUTGOING MAIL SERVER I guess that doesn't apply

Either you are a dedicated spammer, or you operate an insecure mailing list to which the address of a SORBS spamtrap or administrator was added without their knowledge or consent. Hmmm, since I have no OUTGOING MAIL SERVER I guess that doesn't apply

It is a shared server and some other user on the same server spammed directly. hmmm, since I am only on the domain registrar's server and not on any other type of hosting, I guess this doesn't apply either.

The machine was illegally taken over via vulnerabilities in software and abused for spamming. This includes vulnerabilities on servers as well as viruses and trojan horses on end-user computers. Since Enom.com is a pretty healthy and stable registrar where in 11 years of registering domain names I have never had or even heard of this hapopening there, I guess this doesn't apply either.

You are an ISP who provides supplementary Internet services (DNS, web hosting, mail exchanger) or a credit card operator who provides credit card processing services to a domain advertised in spam that was received by a SORBS spamtrap or administrator. again, not me

You are an innocent party whose IP address is listed as part of a larger range of blocked IP addresses because your Internet service provider is not taking action against other customers of theirs that engage in spamming. So pretty much you can just blacklist anyone you feel like blacklisting due to something someone else did? Since you add these manually to the databse you are liable for the decisions you make.

You inherited a listed network after your provider moved the previous tenant, who was a listed spammer, elsewhere. They may have simply moved them around in their own IP address space, or they may have terminated the spammer. At any rate, it would have been kind of the ISP to double-check whether the address block was blocklisted anywhere before reallocating it. Again, if this is the case YOU have made a choice to blacklist those domain names without cause.

SORBS will not delist you without paying the 'fine' for any of these reasons. So this self appointed group of jerkoffs think they have the right to FINE someone?

However, if the listing is a part of a wider range that is blocked you the end-user are not required to pay the SORBS 'fine' as the entry was not generated because of your actions. In such a case only the Internet service provider involved can address the matter. Oh, how gracious of you that I might not have to pay the fine THAT YOU MADE UP!

Then the best part is to submit a delisting request, you have to provide the IP address of your mailserver or the form will not go through. They are so sure that whatever they do is correct that they didn't allow for any other way. Hey assholes! IF I DO NOT HAVE A MAILSERVER I CANNOT GIVE YOU AN IP ADDRESS FOR IT!

This makes it so I cannot email them to tell them they have made a mistake, because they assume that they do not make any mistakes.

If you do not know what your IP address is, please read the Support Request FAQ because you cannot be delisted without knowing it. This is simply because we are not mind readers. Any requests that do not contain the IP address(es) involved have to be ignored and deleted unread. Sorry.

The 'fine' was created to stop spammers from quickly removing themselves from the database. It also has the side effect of reminding people the hard way that they are responsible for their own actions.
Putting an unpatched, unfirewalled Microsoft Windows® machine on the Internet is irresponsible in the highest degree, installing a proxy server and leaving it open for the world to use is both foolish and irresponsible, yet people are doing these things every day, and no one is telling them they can't or that it is wrong.

The 'fine' is US $50.00 and is designed to be small enough to so that the home user will think twice about getting listed a second time, and small enough to be a 'right royal pain in the butt' to any large company, the idea being that whether you are a multi-national company or a single home user, you will think twice about getting relisted for any reason.

Needless to say, the 'fine' policy has proved controversial, particularly with those listed. It has also received negative press from several large U.S. ISPs

Yeah as in we list you and you pay us to be taken off the list. That is extortion plain and simple. They claim the money goes to charity. I run a charity and they are trying to extort money from me to give to a charity?

and finally, if you are really not a spammer, or you are truly reformed, de-listing is relatively easy. You donate US$50 to a charity or trust approved by, and not connected with, SORBS for each spam received related to the listing.

So If I really not a spammer I have to pay the extortion anyway.

The "charity the donation goes to is to a lwyer who defended a guy that did exactly what these guys are doing. He got sued for the equivalent of defamation for accusing someone of being a spammer. It says that the guy already won the lawsuit but any extra money will go to defend people who accuse other people of being spammers.

So in other words, Sorbs accuses you of being a spammer and you must pay them to be taken off their blacklist. The money goes into a fund that helps defend them if you sue them.

Click here to see the so-called charity the money goes to.

I DON'T agree with the fine! Will SORBS change it...?

In a word, YES! However...
What will it be replaced with? That is the question SORBS has for you.

A blatant threat that if you do not pay something worse will happen.

I've taken screen shots to make sure I have it all as written and personally I believe they are going to need that defense fund.

Things That Just Piss Me Off!