SpamSlam
Delete spam messages from your inbox.
Version: 2.1.1
Bad idea
Feedback Type: Commentary
Contributed by: wincent--2008 Monday, September 01 2003 @ 10:25 PM PDT
Product Platform: MacOSX
Used Product For: Have Not Tried
Recommend Product: NO
This software is worse than the spam it fights. I am a shareware author and I send out email messages to my registered users to notify them when a new version is released. In response to this service, I find a pile of returned mail in my inbox which not only requires me to send *another* email in order to have my message sent, but threatens to permanently blacklist me if I take no action! So what am I to do? Waste my time writing these reply emails (and sometimes even having to enter the text that appears in an embedded image in their bounce message) or ignore them and have to live with the fact that my email address will then be permanently blacklist and if my customers ever write in to me with support queries my replies to them will be instantly discarded. I couldn't be more opposed to the basic design premise of this software. It shifts the inconvenience of spam onto innocent, legitimate users. It presumes guilty until proven innocent. Spammers don't care about getting blocked, but I, as a legitimate correspondent do. This software has got it all wrong.
Comments
Bad idea - mattd
This is the first legitimate argument I have seen in opposition of challenge-response systems. All the others can be worked around if the user is cognizant of the risks. This is a tough one though, Wincent.
All that said though, I still think this is a great idea for kids' email accounts. I can deal with the occasional spam message that slips through the filters, but I don't want my little ones to.
Tuesday, September 09 2003 @ 12:19 PM PDT
Bad idea - Resonator
I agree. Unlike this software, Bayesian filtering (Mail, Eudora, SpamSieve) seems to be close to 100% effective with just a tiny effort required on the part of the receiver (marking messages as Not Junk), and absolutely NO effort required for the sender. This software might get you just as far...but with a LOT MORE WORK on everybody's part and a LOT of false positives because they can't be taken off the blacklist fast enough as in the tale of the poor shareware author who simply cannot be expected to reply to hundreds of whitelist request e-mails every day!!!! Forget this software.Reply to This
Friday, September 05 2003 @ 01:48 PM PDT