SBC: How NOT to Run a Blocklist
No ax to grind. TQMcube.com is not listed in the SBC blocklist.
SPEWS has authored the comment about SBC, et al; “Poster child of how not to run a broadband network company when it comes to dealing with abuse.” SBC is equally inept in dealing with protecting their own customers from spam.
Apparently, SBC runs their own DNSBL. That's a good idea. They also provide a removal email address like removeme@sbc.sbcglobal.net in the non-delivery receipt. Another good idea. From there, SBC declares its commitment to astonishing incompetence.
The auto-reply reads as follows:
To serve you better, we have established a web-based system to respond
to all complaints and inquiries regarding our Terms of Service and
Acceptable Use Policy. We can no longer respond to each individual
communication sent to this email address. So if you require a response
from us, we ask that you please utilize the following URL to report
Abuse of Service:
http://help.sbcglobal.net/servabuse.php
Fair enough. But what happens if they don't respond further and they don't remove the IP in question from their blocklist? Well, let's heed the advice in the auto-reply and go to that web site.
That brings up the “SBC Yahoo! Help” contact form for reporting abuse and TOS violations. Submitting the form requires a valid SBC account to which a reply will be sent.
To sum it up, a request to remove an IP from the SBC dnsbl yields a reply that is irrelevant to the issue. It provides a link for further assistance that is of no value whatsoever. Given that most – if not all – removal requests will be generated by administrators who are not customers of SBC, providing them with a web form that can only be used by an SBC customer makes about as much sense as, well, SBC's handling of abuse.
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