This question has been asked so many times as of late, we finally decided to dedicate a web page for its discussion. If you are directed to this web page because of an inquiry to T-One regarding junk mail, please take the time to read it fully. While in the past we have answered each question regarding junk mail on an individual basis, this page should save a lot of typing and a lot of repetitive mailings on the same subject that say basically the same thing.

First and foremost, please be aware that T-One hates junk mail, even more than you do! While UCE, SPAM, and junk mail in general is a nuisance and even sometimes offensive to the user, it creates far more problems for an ISP. As an Internet Service Provider that also provides a full unrestricted mail service, junk mail costs T-One in cold hard dollars. In order to handle and process this junk mail, we have to continually invest in faster and faster mail servers. We have to constantly upgrade the hard disks in our mail servers to larger and larger formats. And because of the vast amounts of junk mail that come across the Internet to our network, we find our bandwidth to the backbone being constantly eroded from its transmission. In short, while UCE and SPAM may be offensive to you as a user, it also is most unwelcome from a business stand point to the Internet provider.

So, what is T-One doing about this most unwelcome part of the email system? Well for one, we have taken the position that junk email WILL NOT be sent out through our system. Like most all other ISPs, we have eliminated the possibility of anyone from outside the T-One system sending mail from our server by blocking relaying. For a brief explanation, relaying is where you are connected to one system, use another system's mail server to send mail out through, destined for yet another system. This is the trick spammers use all the time to send out their junk and at T-One, it can't happen! Along with this anti-relaying policy, T-One also enforces UUNET's acceptable use policy of NO UCE or SPAM being sent from our system itself. Although we may give a user "the benefit of the doubt" on the first offense, if a user of T-One generates junk mail complaints a second time after being warned, we have no choice but to remove the user's account from the system. In short, T-One does NOT let its system be used for the sending of junk mail.

On the receiving end (which is what most of our users are concerned about), T-One has put in place all of the industry accepted methods of blocking junk mail that are possible. Among these are such things as 1). We do not accept mail from any domain that does not resolve. In other words, if a piece of mail says it is from joeblow@bogusdomain.com, and bogusdomain.com does not have a reversible verifiable IP address, the mail is rejected. 2). All of our mail is filtered by what is called the "RBL", maintained by the MAPS project. For reference, "RBL" stands for "Real-time Blackhole List", and the MAPS project is a group on the Internet that exists solely to eliminate SPAM and UCE from the email system. What the "RBL" actually is, is a list of known junk mail senders, and domains that are sympathizers to junk mail senders. By filtering mail with this list, if a piece of mail has come from any of the sites listed, it is automatically rejected. 3). Along with the above, we have also specifically blocked any mail that has a return address of "bulkmail@" (since this is the address many bulk mailer programs use for sending out their UCE), and we have also specifically blocked other domains which have repeatedly sent UCE and SPAM to our users. Believe it or not, since the above steps were taken a couple months or so ago, the amount of junk mail being seen has been cut by about 80%.

So why does the other 20% get through, and what can be done about it you may ask? Since this is really 2 questions, we will try to deal with it separately.

As for why the other 20% is still getting through, there are several reasons. The primary of these is that if for some reason the MAPS "RBL" list is temporarily down or unreachable, all the mail that normally would have been filtered and stopped by it comes through. If one thinks about this logically, it MUST work in this manner for if it were the opposite and the project list went down, NO mail would come through at all (not a good situation when you are depending on email). Another reason why junk mail still gets through is because junk mail senders are always changing their sending mail servers to thwart just the efforts we are putting forth to stop it. In short, if we have 10 servers blocked because of the junk mail received, and they send from the 11th, it is going to come through (it is more like having 5000 blocked, and they go to server 5001).

Now, for the issue of what can be done about the remaining 20%, the answer is really, not much (at least from the server end). As has been explained to may users individually, if we as an Internet provider attempt to go further with the blocking of mail than industry standard practices, it would be considered censorship. This is something that we do not want, and if thought about, we are sure you as a user do not want it either. As additional legitimate methods of blocking junk mail become available T-One will surely institute them, but until that they are, we are stuck with what we have. We also cannot block specific domains or users as some have requested, because what gets blocked for one, gets blocked for all. Something that just does not work on a publicly used full service email system. The bottom line to stopping ALL junk mail is that it "just isn't going to happen!" As the old saying goes "where there is a will, there is a way", and it applies to those sending junk mail as well as anything else.

Lastly, what YOU as a user of T-One can do about junk mail. To start with, do NOT attempt to reply to these junk mailers asking to be removed from their list. In most cases these responses do not go through (because of a bogus username as the sender), and if they do get through, all they do is alert the sender that they have indeed sent to a legitimate and current email address which will then be used all the more.

Second, remove yourself from as many news group subscriptions, web site lists, and mailing lists as you can. Since this is where most of the email spammers get their email addresses from, the fewer you are signed up on, the less junk mail you will get.

Thirdly, DO NOT fill out questionnaire forms, contest forms, or other registration forms while on the net. Again, this is another GREAT source for the senders of junk mail to obtain your email address. The more of these contest forms and registration forms you fill out, the more junk mail you are likely to get!

Lastly, although this may sound somewhat crass, if you get mail you do not want, there is a convenient "DELETE" button at the top of your email program for getting rid of it. Just like junk mail at the post office gets put into the round file at your home, put any unwanted junk email in your trash bin without even opening it.

In conclusion, yes, T-One IS doing something about junk mail. Will we ever stop it all? Very doubtful. Like receiving junk mail at the post office and unwanted solicitations on your telephone, junk via email is a fact of life on the Internet if you have mail service. It will only be when ALL operators of mail servers eliminate the SENDING of junk mail that the problem will go away. In the meantime, T-One will be vigilant in doing all it can to curb as much of it as it can.