If you'd like to submit spam to RSS, then please read and follow these guidelines.
1. Submissions must come from a valid email address that accepts our return mail.
2. Don't knowingly submit non-relay spam.
3. Don't send us spam unless you're sure that you understand what RSS is.
4. Don't submit multihop relays.
5. Don't munge (alter) your submissions.
6. Don't include relay test data.
7. Don't include extraneous comments.
8. Don't nominate the same host multiple times.
9. Don't automate submissions.
10. We'll republish submissions at our discretion.
11. How and where to make a submission.1. Please note that we only accept submissions from valid, confirmed email addresses.
Our mail server is listed on ORBS. (No, it was never an open relay, and no, this isn't the first time we've been listed on ORBS "manual entries" list.) If you'd like to make submissions to RSS, then we'd recommend that you don't use ORBS. We can't accept submissions from folks we can't reply to. Your use of ORBS would make that an issue.
When you send in your first submission, your email address will be confirmed, just like when you sign up for a (properly run) mailing list. If you do not confirm your address, if you send your submission from a fake address, if the confirmation mail to you bounces, your submission, and any further submissions, will be ignored.
If we try to contact you about a submission, and that mail bounces, it's likely that we'll refuse further submissions from you. We need a valid two-way communication path between us, so that RSS volunteers can contact you with any questions or concerns with your submissions. Because the number of submissions we receive is increasing daily, we don't have the time to manually unmunge your address.
2. Do not submit spam that you know is not relay spam. People nominate the servers of big ISPs regularly, generally because they're frustrated about the level of spam emanating from those servers. Only relay spam is eligible for submission. An ORBS tag in the header of the email doesn't mean that the site is necessarily an open relay, or that the spam is relay spam. How to tell if it's relay spam? Here's a few examples of various types of headers.
3. Don't send us spam if you're unsure of what RSS is or you can't figure out how to send the spam to the proper address in the proper format. Lots of folks accidentally try to nominate their own server, or send us all of their spam and expect us to (manually) assist them with it. We can't. It's not that we hate you -- we just don't have the resources to do that. We'd love to find some volunteers to help folks with those problems in the near future, but we're just not able to tackle that at this time.
4. If you know what multilevel/multihop relay spam is, then you should not be submitting this type of spam to RSS. We don't want to list multihop relays -- that's RBL territory. They're better positioned to handle the collateral damage that results when you list a multihop relay. A spam should only have one relay point if you're going to submit it to RSS. If it has multiple relay points, or relays using different input and output IPs, then it's multihop, and not eligible for an RSS listing.
5. Don't munge. This means do not obscure or remove your email address or any other information contained in the spam headers. We don't hide from spammers and neither should you. Some folks complain that spammers scan the RSS files for addresses to remove from their lists -- this simply isn't borne out by our experience. If you delete or obscure other information, like receiving system host name, message-ID, SMTP ID, etc., then we'll have to reject your submission. We need as much information available as possible, to assist us from a legal liability standpoint. We use a rudimentary filter on our web site that will attempt to hide your email address in the spam's headers. if you'd like us to tweak the output of that filter, contact us with an example you're unhappy with, and we'll see what we can do. (The filter will only address recipient email addresses in headers -- it isn't intended to munge other data.)
6. Please do not include relay test data in submissions. We will perform our own relay test, so there's no need for you to include your relay test data. It is nice to know that you took the extra effort to confirm the server's relaying status, and that info does help us some times. Feel free to include a single line in your submission that says something like "I've tested this server and found it open to relay." That'll tell us all we need to know.
7. Please do not include extraneous comments in submissions. This information will end up in our public database. We'd like to shield the complainants (you) from possible spammer retaliation as much as possible. The more polite, short, and to the point your submissions are, the better we'll be able to do that. It's best not to include your email signature in your submissions. Some folks include extra email addresses and even their phone numbers attached to their emails. Do you really want the public to be able to view this information in our database? (Our ongoing automated methods to protect your email addresses will only work on headers -- it won't be able to read your email signature.)
8. Don't nominate the same host more than once. The system in place won't allow you to nominate the same host to RSS more than once. The reason for this is that some folks submit the same spam multiple times because they'd like us to work harder to list a site on RSS. That slows down our ability to process submissions and it would allow duplicate copies of the same spam to end up in our database.
9. Don't send in automated submissions. A few different times, folks have started sending us hundreds of automated submissions at a time without asking us first. If you're going to automate submissions to RSS, you need to get our approval before hand. We're not necessarily looking for more automated submissions, as we'd rather have better data over more data.
10. Usage of submission evidence. You retain copyright on any material or information you submit to the MAPS RSS. By submitting any evidence, material, or information to the MAPS RSS, you grant us unlimited permission to republish or redistribute this information in any manner we see fit. MAPS RSS submission data will be made available to the MAPS RBL, and various spam archive or network abuse-related services, at our discretion. All information contained in any of your communication with MAPS RSS will be considered public knowledge.
Sending us submissions is actually very easy. Just send one full spam to relays@mail-abuse.org. In the body of your email, above the full spam, make sure you add a line that says:
Relay: (ip address)
Replace (ip address) with the IP address of the server you've received the relayed spam from. Make sure there's nothing else on that line, and make sure that you format it properly (it has to be the word 'relay' followed by a colon and a space.)
Make sure that the submitted spam contains full headers (don't munge (delete or obscure) system names or email addresses) and complete body text. Also, make sure that you're sending plain text, not a mime-attachment.
Click here to view an example submission email.
Please note that submissions will be refused or ignored at our discretion.
Please don't send anything else to relays@mail-abuse.org. It'll be rejected. If you are trying to contact a real person at RSS, click here for contact information.
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[ MAPS LLC | RSS | RBL | DUL | TSI ] [ Contact Us ] Updated 8/6/2000.