« Spamware for the Mac? | Main | Don't blame US for spam problem »

October 13, 2005

Spamhaus takes warning shot at gun group

Spamhaus has blacklisted an Internet protocol (IP) address assigned to the National Rifle Association (NRA). According to the anti-spam organization, the NRA's is "sending to spamtraps, not honoring unsubscribes."

Spamhaus rarely shies away from battling spammers, but it's apparently wary of picking a fight with the gun rights group. The IP blacklisted by Spamhaus (208.253.77.224) isn't actually in current use by the NRA for sending email or hosting web sites.

In its explanation for the intentional misfire, which went into effect September 30, Spamhaus said that the NRA "sends enough opt-in mail that blocking the source www.nranews.org [208.253.77.250] is not desireable [sic]." Spamhaus also says that MCI, which hosts the NRA address, "needs to work with this customer on list hygeine."

In other words, the Spamhaus blacklist against the NRA is just a warning shot.

The NRA already seems quite sensitized on spam issues. The sign-up site for the NRA's email news alerts warns visitors to adjust their spam filters "to accept bulk emails from the nraila.org and www.nranews.org domains." The NRA also explains that it uses a "double opt-in process" for security purposes.

I did a test subscribe and, sure enough, I received an email (from mailer1.2gtdtbib.net [64.203.96.133]) asking me to confirm my request. The email also included a toll-free phone number and the NRA's mailing address in Virginia.

Posted by brian at October 13, 2005 3:42 PM