Reduction in Spam?

[Glenn Steen]

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On 21/12/05, John Wilcock <john at tradoc.fr> wrote:
> Drew Marshall wrote:
> > I am not convinced by this article as my stats read quite differently!
> >
> > http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4547474.stm
>
> I have actually seen a reduction in incoming spam - am I the exception?
>
> See http://www.tradoc.fr/spamstats.pdf - this is for a very low volume
> site with just 6 users. Incoming spam levels dropped off noticeably
> about 12 months ago (which may be related to the fact that the IP
> address for our primary MX changed, though then again it may be just a
> coincidence) and continued to fall until about April. There's been a
> slight upward trend since, but nothing like previous levels.
>
> In any case the article isn't isn't clear as to whether less spam is
> actually being sent or whether filters are simply getting more effective
> or more widespread.
>
> John.
>
> --

Well, that might have a lot of explanations... In my case, I've seen a
steady increase in both spam and MTA rejections (mostly the latter
though). Slightly more than a year ago I moved to a more restrictive
policy at the MTA level, which bumped the rejections and dropped the
spam ... for a short while, then _both_ started rising. Sigh.

Anyway, a better article on the subject is the one at el Reg:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/21/can-spam/ ... including a link
to the actual FTC report (which certainly looks a bit like a "pat on
the back" affair to me:-). I certainly wouldn't attribute any
perceived or measured drop to the opt-out feature... Perhaps to the
legal actions, but not to the opt-out as such. But thats just me;).

--
-- Glenn
email: glenn < dot > steen < at > gmail < dot > com
work: glenn < dot > steen < at > ap1 < dot > se

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