From ryan@sasknow.com Wed Sep  1 19:23:32 2004
From: Ryan Thompson <ryan@sasknow.com>
To: discuss@lists.surbl.org
Subject: Re: [SURBL-Discuss] To MUNGE to not to MUNGE
Date: Wed, 01 Sep 2004 11:23:29 -0600
Message-ID: <20040901105700.R49926@drizzle.sasknow.net>
In-Reply-To: <20040901072353.O95305@drizzle.sasknow.net>
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OK. Good discussion so far! By all means, keep the comments coming.
Right now, though, I'd like to formalize my current thinking into two
cases:

1.  This mailing list traffic ought to be exempt from spam filters, and
     we ought not to be required to munge domains sent to this mailing
     list. So, I suggest we send bare domains to this list, without
     munging.

2.  Domains sent via private email may or may not be filtered, so
     munging may be appropriate. It's up to the sender and the recipient,
     but the assumption, when policies aren't known in advance, is that
     one should probably munge domains sent privately.

And, I'd propose the following as a replacement to the text in
http://www.surbl.org/faq.html#munge :

<H3><A NAME="munge">How can I mail or receive spam URIs for discussion?
</A></H3>

<H4>For Mailing Lists</H4>

     <P>When sending domains to <EM>mailing lists</EM> such as the <A
     HREF="http://lists.surbl.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss">SURBL Discuss
     list</A>, simply include the domain (or full URI, only if path
     information is relevant) in your message. <EM>You do not need to
     munge the domain when posting to these public lists.</EM></P>

<H4>For Private Email</H4>

     <P>However, when sending domains via <EM>private email</EM>, it may
     be necessary to munge the domain to prevent the recipient's filter
     from hitting your email. Use a simple munging system that preserves
     the human readability of the domain, while preventing filters from
     picking up the URI. For example:</P>

     <PRE>spamdomain.com-MUNGED</PRE>

     <P>Note that the -MUNGED should appear at the end (or the beginning)
     of the URI, not in the middle, as this makes it difficult to read,
     and copy/paste the domain.</P>


And, the following addition (possibly condensed) to the Discuss charter:

     Since these lists exist, in part, for the discussion and dissection
     of spam, spammy messages will often be posted. As such, participants
     are strongly encouraged to prevent any spam filtering of list
     traffic, to avoid discussions being blocked, or (worse yet)
     poisoning automatic learning systems.


- Ryan

-- 
   Ryan Thompson <ryan(a)sasknow.com>

   SaskNow Technologies - http://www.sasknow.com
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