Subject: W:CCL Web E-mail Interface and Greylisting

From: "Jan, K, Labanowski" <jlabanow*&*nd.edu>
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 11:36:23 -0500

Dear CCL Subscribers,
 
Since CCL was receiving a few thousands pieces of spam mail a day,
I had to adopt a drastic solution to deal with the problem.
The CCL server runs now a greylisting software (read more about
the way it is currently set up at CCL at:
http://www.ccl.net/cca/software/UNIX/greylisting/README.shtml )
 
In short, your message to CCL is refused for the first hour (with
server temporarily unavailable) and then accepted. This is a standard
behavior, and it should work for standard installations without bothering
you. It works because most spammers do not retry delivery of their
messages, while legitimate senders batch their messages if they cannot
be sent outright.
 
However, a standard is one thing, and practice is often something
different. For example, some cable Internet providers try to resent
the message only once, after 24 hours rather than try resending with
dropping frequency, as is the common way of doing things. Some mail
gateways do not resend messages after first bounce at all (like most
spammers) to save on bandwidth.
 
For the few of you who may have a problem sending regular e-mail
to CCL or its administrators, I created a Web Form:
   http://www.ccl.net/cgi-bin/ccl/send_ccl_message
that allows you to send mail to CCL Subscribers or Administrators
via Web. Essentially, provide your name/e-mail, select the recipients
(CCL Subscribers or Administrators), provide Subject and body of your
message, and click on Submit. Of course, if this form is more convenient
for you than your regular MUA, you can use it even if you have no problems
sending mail to CCL. The link to the form is on the CCL home page:

      http://www.ccl.net

Thank you for your support and patience.
 
Jan Labanowski
CCL Admin
jlabanow*&*nd.edu