Anyone Understand This Email Talk?

[Cheryl]

Has anyone ever seen this kind of message and know what it means? Can't seem to email this guy from any of my domains?

 

This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed: Yuck!

 

xxxx@bigzoo.net

SMTP error from remote mailer after MAIL

FROM:<cheryl@freedomteamwork.com> SIZE=3887: host

mail.bigzoo.net [65.113.30.59]: 501 5.7.1

<cheryl@freedomteamwork.com>... Sender refused by the

DNSBL proxies.relays.monkeys.com

 

Keeps sending this message no matter what domain I use.

[TCH-Thomas]

Stupid questions perhaps, but you are sure he does exist on this adress and you have not made any typos?

[Alan]

Cheryl,

 

Usually spammers will make 'Aliases' and not point them to anywere, so when you try to E-Mail them back, your E-Mail attempt will fail.

 

Keeps them from getting their E-Mail's Bounced back to them, and spamming them when they try to spam others.

 

I would just block the address.

[Cheryl]

No, this is someone I know, they know me and we exchange emails. I just hit reply to respond...so unless he typoed...guess I need to call him.

 

That's why the message baffles me.

 

If it was a spammer or other unknown...I would delete!!

[MikeJ]

Has anyone ever seen this kind of message and know what it means?

... Sender refused by the

DNSBL proxies.relays.monkeys.com

The host that you are sending email to is using a blackhole list that was shutdown several months ago. They shouldn't be using that list.

 

monkeys.com recently reverted to an "all positive" state where anyone still querying their blackhole list will always get a positive for blocking. If you can contact that person via other means, I would recommend you tell him to complain to his email provider.

[TCH-Dick]

looks to me like bigzoo.net is using an a spam block list provided by http://www.monkeys.com/anti-spam/filtering/index.html

[MikeJ]

If you need something for your contact to forward to his provider. The fact it changed to all positive now I don't believe is exactly known, but they shouldn't be using that list anymore anyway.

 

From: Ronald F. Guilmette

Sent: Monday, September 22, 2003 4:41 PM

Subject: BLOCK,MISC: MONKEYS.COM: Now retired from spam fighting

 

It is with deep regret that I must announce that by 12:00 PM

Pacific Daylight Time tonight, September 22nd, 2003, all

anti-spam services and information that are now, or that

have been provided by MONKEYS.COM to the Internet community

will be terminated. All spam related information will be

removed from the MONKEYS.COM web site and all anti-spam DNS

zone files of MONKEYS.COM will be completely emptied of their

contents.

 

Please note that the various MONKEYS.COM anti-spam DNS zone

files will continue to exist, for the indefinite future,

for the convenience of the community, but they will contain

no listings of any IP addresses or address blocks. I want

to assure everyone, most solemnly, that I have no plans whatso-

ever to implement any sorts of ``positive response'' wild-

cards in any of these zones (as happened, unfortunately, in

the Osirusoft case). The MONKEYS.COM anti-spam zones will

remain accessible, but content free for an absolute minimum

of 6 months, and even after that time, ample prior notice

will be provided, both here and elsewhere, regarding any

changes.

 

As those of you who have come to know me over the past 8+ years

of spam fighting surely know, I am deeply sorry that I have

to withdraw from this fight, but at this point I clearly

have no choice. I rode out the first massive DDoS against

my site, which lasted for 10 days, from August 19th through

the 29th, but over the past three days I have been massively

DDoS'd again, and I think that the handwriting is now on the

wall. I will simply not be allowed to continue fighting spam.

It simply isn't an option anymore. I don't have either the

bandwidth or the level of interest among either big network

providers or law enforcement authorities that is clearly

necessary in order to fight this kind of concentrated onslaught

from thousands of separate zombie machines at a time. I would

be the first to say that it is a damn shame that the bad guys

have won yet another round, but their really isn't a damn thing

that I can do about it. If there are people on the net that can

DDoS the likes of Yahoo and eBay out of existence (as happened

in the year 2000), then little Ron Guilmette and Monkeys.Com hasn't

got a chance. I can't fight the kinds of attacks that have been

directed at me recently any more than I can fight against the sun

coming up tomorrow.

 

To those of you who have come such a long way with me in this

fight, and even to all of those who have criticized my methods,

over time, I want to say thank you. Thank you even for disagreeing

with me when I needed it, and I hope that you will all accept my

apologies for letting you down. I confess that I underestimated

the enemy rather badly. I underestimated both the enemy's level

of sophistication, and also the enemy's level of brute malevolence.

I always knew that spammers had no principals and no ethics, but

up until recently, I had no idea that they could or would stoop this

low, or that they would engage in quite this level of criminality.

I guess that naively, I just never thought hard enough about how

much money was actually at stake (in the spamming trade) or what

that might mean in terms or the determination of spammers to win

at all costs.

 

I don't know what else I can or should say at this point, other

than that it is my fervent hope that people of good will and good

intentions, people who believe in common values like civility,

honesty, decency, and privacy, will someday be able to take back

the net from the criminals who are clearly in the driver's seat at

the moment. Sadly though, I have to say that I am not hopeful that

this will occur anytime soon. Losing a few anti-spam sites is not

something that is likely to grab either the attention of, or even

the notice of John Q. Surfer. Strange as it may sound, the only

real hope that I have for the near term is that some egomaniac

miscreant with a desire for publicity will DDoS the web sites of

both the Democratic and Republican National Committees out of ex-

istance. Preventing DDoS attacks an/or finding their perpetrators

in not likely to be a priority for either manufacturers of network-

ing gear or for large backbone companies until such an event, and

until people with the clout necessary to move things off dead-center

are impacted as I have been.

 

 

Regards,

rfg

 

 

P.S. I may still post the odd occasional personal opinion to the various

anti-spam lists and newsgroups, but I clearly am no longer in a position

to make suggestions to anybody about anything when it comes to fighting

spam. I took my best shot, at trying to leap tall buildings in a single

bound, and all I did was to make some high scuff marks on the wall. I

thus no longer have any real standing to comment on what anybody else

may be doing in the way of anti-spam efforts, and all I can do is to

wish you well and the best of luck.

 

P.P.S. I should perhaps offer a special apology to SpamHaus, to MAPS,

and to the many other such groups that will continue to try to withstand

this onslaught. I am especially sorry that I have let all of you down,

and that I won't be able to draw any fire away from you folks any more.

I wish you better luck (and more friends and bandwidth) than I had.