-----Original Message----- From: owner-nanog@merit.edu [mailto:owner-nanog@merit.edu] On Behalf Of Michael H. Warfield Sent: May 3, 2002 10:22 PM To: Vivien M. Cc: 'Paul Vixie'; nanog@nanog.org Subject: Re: anybody else been spammed by "no-ip.com" yet?
On Fri, May 03, 2002 at 05:08:44PM -0400, Vivien M. wrote: [snip your total misunderstanding of the secret admirer thing, as "PS" already posted a well-worded explanation of what I wanted to say. No need to waste people's time repeating things in a less polite fashion]
Random disclaimer: Yes, we're a competitor of no-ip.com's... And yes, we used to send similar emails to people signing up for an account, although nowadays instead of sending them an initial password we send a confirm URL instead.
So it appears you wised up...
How is it different whether you use an initial password or a confirm URL to confirm? The old emails said "Here's your initial password. Log in with it within 48 hours to confirm the account. If someone else requested the account, do nothing and it'll be deleted along with any trace of your email address in 48 hours."
Yeah, I help run a system with over 100 mailing lists and over 10,000 subscribers to one or more of those mailing lists. You learn. We learned YEARS ago. No open subscriptions. Confirm everything. We got tired of half the planet subscribing Rep N. Gingrich to all of our mailing lists. We may have had really REALLY good information and service, but I honestly DON'T think he as interested and those 100,000 "secret admirers" really didn't think they were doing him a favor.
We've been confirming every user we've had for the past three years or so, which is pretty much how long we've been around (for the first few months, we used a totally different system/database, but all records of that are gone now. Every one of our users right now has a confirmed email address.). I may be dumb, but I don't see how giving the user a password to confirm as opposed to a random confirmation URL is being a spammer. What one DOES with unconfirmed accounts, no matter the confirmation method, determines whether one is a spammer, and that may very well have been what angered Mr. Vixie with no-ip.com's email as it didn't specify that the account would be deleted unless Mr. Vixie actually took action to keep it.
The "secret admirer" thing is so rare it makes the lottery look like a sure bet. Hell! It makes Schroeder's cat look immortal. It's an excuse and a fraud. That's all it ever was and that's all it will ever be.
Your lack of ability to read and interpret posts is even more rare than the winning lottery combination, too, you know... Vivien -- Vivien M. vivienm@dyndns.org Assistant System Administrator Dynamic DNS Network Services http://www.dyndns.org/