The two staff attorneys at Mail Abuse Prevention Services, LLC, have resigned, amid rumors of financial problems at the spam-fighting organization and public criticism over MAPS' lawsuit against a former employee who allegedly took company property.
MAPS publishes the Realtime Blackhole List, a service that identifies spammers so ISPs and network owners can block them. MAPS has been the target of lawsuits by businesses claiming that they were unfairly placed on the organization's blacklist.
Views: MAPS is scary, but would you really want them to go away?
As a businessperson and marketer, it worries me that my emails could be blocked because my IP address somehow found its way onto one of the many blacklists operated by various companies and organizations. What's to keep someone from arbitrarily interfering with my ability to reach other Internet users? Case in point: I recently tried to communicate with someone at Kodak about his need for assistance with an email marketing effort. My email to him got blocked by Kodak's network because it contained the word "opt-in."
In spite of my leeriness, though, I have to ask myself, Would I really want to see a world without the various spam-fighting efforts undertaken by ISPs, companies, and organizations? Without these measures, I have a feeling we would all be receiving a lot more spam.
Are anti-spam systems good or bad for business? Send us your answer by clicking on the "Post Letter" link at the top of the right-hand column on this page.
Al Bredenberg
Publisher
EmailResults.com (http://www.emailresults.com)
