From: Kent Landfield (kent@hypermail.org)
Date: Mon Nov 08 1999 - 08:43:23 CST
# I was wondering if people had discussed on this list the possibility
# of adding anti-spambot features to hypermail, so an online hypermail
# archive wouldn't become grazing grounds' for spambots?
No we haven't discussed it here.
# There are all sorts of examples of how this could be done out there,
# and I'm considering implementing some of the following here on my own
# copy of hypermail (I'll send in a patch when I'm done):
#
# + Turning "bre@mmedia.is" into "bre (at) mmedia (dot) is", or
# "bre @ mmedia. is", or random permutations of the above.
# + Wpoison style fake addresses inserted into real ones, as comments.
# + Replacing the @ character with something else, e.g. !
# (useful for mangling signatures w/o changing line lengths - nobody
# really uses bang paths anymore, do they? :-).
#
# Comments?
# Suggestions?
#
# I realize that this won't stop the most determined address harvestors out
# there, but it slow them down a bit.
It won't stop or even slow down anyone. The problem is they go into the
code and see what the algorithm is. The source is and will be available
to all. Now with that info they simply code in a recognition of the archive
type and harvest the addresses. The only people who are affected are the
normal users that just want to read and use the archives as originally
intended.
While the intent is reasonable, it does little to solve the problem and makes
the archive much harder to deal with since no address is respondable. That
sort of defeats the purpose of posting new messages from the archive options
and responding directly to posts from within the archive. Both are used
constantly here and on the numerous lists I manage.
I see no reason to add this kind of capability to the base hypermail system.
If you are afraid of harvesting then don't put the archive up on the web and
use majordomo or listproc "GET" commands to let people get the archives.
(But wait.... Then they'll just harvest the addresses from the list server
archives...)
-- Kent Landfield Phone: 1-817-545-2502 Email: kent@landfield.com http://www.landfield.com/ Email: kent@nfr.net http://www.nfr.net/ Search the Usenet FAQ Archive at http://www.faqs.org/faqs/ Search the RFC/FYI/STD/BCP Archive at http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/