The all-time classic to report spam to is not-for-profit Mail Abuse Prevention System LLC. < http://mail-abuse.org/ >

The Network Abuse Clearinghouse is a complaint service that will forward your spam complaints to culprits flooding your mail box. < http://www.abuse.net/ >

The MMF Hall of Humiliation takes approach of ridicule to combat spammers. Lots of parodies and spoofs of obnoxious unsolicited commercial emails, and more. Still, it has a very serious background, informing in detail about fraud indictments and offering rudimentary legal analysis of spam scams. < http://ga.to/mmf/ >

This site offers monthly case studies of reporting spam and lists successes. You'll see that while it's quite an uphill battle, it can be done. < http://www.obliquity.com/computer/spambait/ >

Reporting Tools --------------- Some abuse reporting tools are listed here: < http://www.abuse.net ools.html >

As for anything on net, there's a fitting mailing list available for people interested in software tools that detect and process unsolicited bulk e-mail: < http://www.abuse.net/spamtools.html >

Proactive Strategies --------------------

UXN Spam Combat offers a nice one-page form aggregating all tools you need to solve spam problem, ranging from NSlookup and Trace Routing to Pings, decoding of obfuscated web URLs, etc. Very useful. < http://combat.uxn.com/ >

Uni-encoding email addresses displayed on your web site is still a very efficient method of thwaring email address harvesters or extractor bots: < http://fantomaster.com/famshield0.html >

This page offers you tools to "poison" spambots with by feeding them tons of invalid email addresses. While this admittedly places some strain on bandwidth and system resources, it's also pretty easy to crash a spammer's system this way - ah, sweet revenge! < http://fantomaster.com/faantispamtip2.html >

Many spammers are now offering their pathetic wares not via internet but offline, preferably using toll free numbers. This article outlines a strategy on where and how to hit them hard - in their pockets! < http://fantomaster.com/faantispamtip3.html >

Probably most effective method of prevention is blocking spammers and their harvester bots from your web site altogether. This tip expounds strategy to pursue. < http://fantomaster.com/faantispamtip4.html >

The Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (CAUCE) is an international organization promoting anti-spam legislation. < http://www.cauce.org/ > They also publish "True Tales of Spam" here, where you may see your own story featured some day if you wish tp submit it: < http://www.cauce.org ales/index.shtml >

Fighting spam with procmail under Unix is discussed in detail here: < http://www.itworld.com/App/354/lw-03-geek_1/ >

The Mega Zine SpamScript software generates tons of bogus email addresses on fly to feed (and crash!) spambot systems with. < http://www.softham.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/spam_bots.htm >

For people who can't run CGI on their systems, here's a remotely hosted version of spam script: < http://www.softham.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/spam_bots.htm >

Tips on how to lure in spambots to special, "poisoned" sections of your site while keeping away innocent visitors can be found here: < http://www.turnstep.com/Spambot/lure.html >

Articles -------- Steven Champeon, Save Your Site from Spambots. Techniques to Prevent Address Scraping < http://webtechniques.com/archives/2001/08/champeon/ >

Spambot Fighting site: < http://www.turnstep.com/Spambot/ >

Humor ----- As a comic aside, spam haikus (some more, some less witty) are featured by chockfull here: < http://www.mmfhoh.org/mmf/haiku.html >

Finally, yours truly's "Spam Sonnet" is offered as an educative example of what spam can inflict on sensitive artistic mind ... < http://fantomaster.com/faantispamtip5.html >

Those who use spam as method of getting their advertisements out should be stopped. But not by taking all innocent people down with them.

True spam is usually fairly easy to spot. There is a bogus return address consisting of nonsensical numbers and letters, either no way is provided to remove yourself from list or a bogus address is provided as a means of removing yourself from list, there is a footer in message which contains a supposed act of United States Congress defining spam, or other such obvious items.

99.9% of ezines I have read have a clear and easy way to unsubscribe. Should you use link and find you have not been unsubscribed, it is possible you subscribed using another email address which is being forwarded to your current address. The ezine publisher cannot unsubscribe you without original address from which you subscribed.

If you are really upset by spam, why not concentrate on those who are truly guilty of spamming, and not innocents. Use your efforts to punish guilty instead of indiscriminately crying spam every time a piece of email hits your inbox.

As an ezine publisher I get a great deal of spam in my inboxes. Rather than waste my precious time trying to track spammers down or reporting them to Spam Cop, I use my delete button. It is efficient and deadly. The spam is gone as soon as I hit delete.

One of truly great characteristics of internet is its use for free exchange of information. This freedom is being seriously challenged by those who believe in indiscriminate use of Spam Cop or other such anti-spam organizations.

I can't speak for you, but I get a great deal of information, education and entertainment from many ezines to which I subscribe. It would be a severe loss if they all quit publishing because of fear of false spam accusals shutting them down.

In conclusion, spam should be stopped. However, it must be stopped with common sense and discrimination, not with a vigilante mentality. Being accused of spamming is one of rare instances in current human history where you are considered guilty until proven innocent.

Whatever happened to concept of innocent until proven guilty?

Should anyone out there in cyberspace have a universally acceptable definition of spam and a means of fairly and judiciously enforcing it, I am extremely interested in your viewpoints.