Website Launched: January 5, 2002
Current Version: 2.03
Updated: Apr. 19, 2003, 6:15 pm PT

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Articles

2003-02-09:
Buying Dispensation
Continuing the ancient-history theme of last month's article, here's a little fable from long, long ago... Into a small village in medieval Europe rode a monk on an ass. The village's shop keepers gathered around him.

"Friar..." they cried, "Will you lead us out of our poverty?"

"Absolution," he said. You require absolution from the sins that have darkened your path." ...

2003-01-08:
The Smell of Profit
I've recently gotten several pieces of UCE from a new "offers" marketer, so I decided to pay their website a visit. ... On the unsub page, though, the stock image is that of an ancient Roman coin. ... This particular coin turns out to be a silver denarius struck in 75 A.D., during the reign of Emperor Vespasian. ... Interesting guy...
Read all articles...
 

Site News and Updates
Update, 2003-04-19:
Now— Spamdemic T-Shirts!


Our series of inspirational and informative posters has become a line of T-shirts for the spam fighter who has everything!

These T's bear the same anti-spam and privacy-warning graphics as our new posters. You've been wearing sentiments like this "on your sleeve"... now you can wear them on your back, too! Speak your mind and support the Clueless Mailers Spamdemic Research Center at the same time... Stop by The Spamdemic™ Store and get yourself covered.

Some of these same graphics are also available as free downloadable badges for use on your website. With messages like "Those Who Spam This Domain Will Be Prosecuted" these images will let Spammy know you mean business! Here are some examples:



There are more where those came from!

Add a badge to your page, and put Spammy on notice! We'd also appreciate it if you'd refer folks back to www.spamdemic.org. And remember — Hot-linking images is bandwidth theft. Please download the images to your own webserver and serve them from there.

BTW— When you get a poster put up in your office, snap a photo and send it along to the webmaster.

Enjoy!   — Bob

All graphics © Copyright 2003 spamdemic.org / Robert M. West, All Rights Reserved.

Update, 2003-02-09:
Welcome to Clueless Mailers 2.0!

We decided it was time for a little site spiffing, so we broke out the orbital sander and the paint gun... et voila! A facelift! In addition to the new look, we've also restructured some of the information on the site, so take a look at the navigation menu on the left to find what you're looking for.

For instance, the CM webmaster's personal company-based blacklist is no longer on this front page; we've moved it inside, to the new Listings area.

There's also a new domain blacklist
— found in the new "Listings" section — that includes newly-collated data about each listed domain. This new format displays the domain name, owner, the domain's usage (mail origin, response links, redirect destinations, image hosting or From/Reply-To/Return-Path), the date of the first- and latest-received UCE involving the domain, and the number of UCEs received that use the domain in some capacity. The list is also sortable by most column headings. The new version of the list is generated by a FileMaker Pro database, although it isn't served in real time yet; it will be updated about once a week.

For the present, there will be two kinds of blacklists on the CM site: the original company-based blacklist containing comments (found here on this page), and the new database-generated domain blacklist.

As the database and reporting functions are improved, more refined data will be used for the new list. For example, some mailers have proven themselves to be "Domain Morphers." While using true WHOIS record info, putting up "legit-looking" web pages, staying put at one host and mailing from a consistent IP range, they frequently create new domains in order to circumvent filtering and blocking. This tactic makes blocking them by domain name impossible. For now, domain morphers will remain on the same list, but at some point we hope to segregate them to a "lower-level" list. There are also a few bits of data missing here and there, but the new format reveals more information about the Clueless (and not-so-clueless) Mailers involved.

We're also in the process of "re-branding" the site with the Spamdemic(SM) name. This will better reflect our educational focus on the unauthorized trading of your personal information, and the increase in spam that results.

We also have a brand-new logo — The Spamdemic Privacy Hazard Icon. This logo combines aspects of the universal "biohazard" symbol — for its "contagion" implications — with the repeating letter "i" for "information"; the i's are joined at the center with a circle to evoke magnifying glasses, and a prying eye's iris reinforces the paranoid allusions. This icon is set into a traditional triangular yellow warning sign to complete the default logo. Sound a little paranoid? You won't think so once you look at the Spamdemic Map. <g> We maintain the "industrial warning signs" theme across the site, since this is an industrial-size problem; stay tuned for more... including signs you can download and use on your own website. BTW— Don't worry about Spammy the Clown(SM)... He's not quite in retirement yet.

Our next goal is to dynamically serve the site from a database... But we'll leave that to another update.

Have fun exploring!

...Bob


"I cannot consent to pay for a privilege where I have intrinsic right." — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Surrendering an email address in order to stop spamming abuse means giving in to extortion.

This website is proudly hosted by FutureQuest Click Here To Get Your Site Hosted With FutureQuest ... a truly great web host.

Spamdemic Map image hosting generously donated by Chris Holland of The Christopher Holland Consultancy.
Our sincere thanks go to Chris for supporting the Clueless Mailers site, and the message we're bringing to our visitors!

All Contents of this Website are © Copyright 2002-2003, Robert M. West, All Rights Reserved.   [FQ]

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