Anti-Spam Working Group

The problem of 'spam' on the Internet is well known to almost all users [Vix98]. Its use (abuse) is increasing and in many cases it can cause severe technical and operational problems to network operators and users; in particular those hosts which are target as email "relays". Since technical measures to combat this network abuse have not been widely deployed, it was proposed at a BoF session on the subect at RIPE 29 [spamBoF98], to form a working group which would aim to tackle the problem from two non-technical angles:

• To develop a 'Code of Conduct' to which Internet Service Providers (ISPs) might agree to adhere. It is foreseen that this document might be used as an indication that a signing party would make efforts to ensure that their customers are not responsible for abuse of the network resources of others or that they would be prepared to take actions to combat network abuse.

• To make a recommendation as to the feasibility and usefulness of a 'Centre for European Network Abuse Resolution' (CENAR). This centre would not handle individual abuse complaints, but might, for example, provide a conflict resolution service if ISPs are unable to resolve issues regarding abuse complaints themselves (for instance an ISP does not co-operate in abuse- complaints matters). The centre could also help with deployment of technical solutions and might pre-empt governmental regulation through the perception of a degree of 'self governance' within the European ISP community. The proposed working group would define the statutes, target audience, workplan and propose a financial model for such a service.

Procedures

The work of this group will be carried out principally by e-mail. It is proposed to meet at RIPE Meetings in order to finalise any documents. Participation in RIPE Working Groups is open to all. The first meeting was held during RIPE 31.

References

[spamBoF98] - Minutes of the BoF session at RIPE 29 entitled, "Deployment of Anti-spam measures".
[Vix98] - Information on spam / anti-spam tools can be found at: http://spam.abuse.net/

Anti-Spam Working Group Group Mailing List

anti-spam-wg@ripe.net is the address to use if you want to start or contribute to a discussion.
(This is not the address to use if you wish to report spam. We have posted information about how to deal with spam and network abuse elsewhere on this site).

This list is open to everyone and you are welcome to subscribe if you want to participate in discussions. You can read archived discussions through the website. Comments sent by subscribers are posted immediately to the list. Relevant e-mails sent by non-subscribers are held for moderator approval before being posted. Unsolicited bulk e-mail (spam) is not accepted.

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