Mail Abuse Discussion

Discussion
There are many forms of email abuse. This document discusses the more common forms, but is by no means an exhaustive list. This document is not a formal acceptable use policy but is provided to give some guidance as to what Demon will consider to be email abuse.

It is usual to describe "abuse" as being abuse of Internet facilities, rather than common abuse sent via the Internet. To qualify as "abuse", an act must significantly interfere with the use of the network by an individual or group of individuals in some specific way, for example by consuming resources or wasting others time. The term "abuse" also includes activities that are illegal or dishonest.

Generalities aside, due to the practical problems caused by "spamming" Demon wishes to make it clear that it considers the sending of bulk unsolicited email, of any kind, to be unacceptable behaviour. Demon will always act when such behaviour is brought to its notice. Education, in the form of an email warning, can be the most appropriate response to a first offence, since customers can be unaware of contemporary standards. However, it is Demon Internet's policy to terminate the accounts of any customer who continues to send bulk unsolicited email.

Chain Letters, "Make Money Fast" and other Ponzi Pyramid-Selling Schemes
These articles are similar to paper versions, where you add your name at the end of a list and send the message to lots of your friends. The person at the head of the list is typically sent some small amount of money and hopes to become rich. Simple mathematics shows why they do not work in theory, and a little thought about human nature will show you why they do not work in practice either.

These schemes, even where they offer no financial or material reward are unacceptable abuse. They waste resources for Internet service providers and for the users who download them. If they do involve money they are also illegal in many countries - despite common claims to the contrary within their text.

Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE)
Unsolicited Commercial Email is advertising material sent and received by email without the recipient either requesting such information or otherwise explicitly expressing an interest in the material advertised.

Since many Internet users use a dial-up connection and pay for their online time, it costs them money to receive email. Receipt of unsolicited commercial advertising therefore costs them money and is often therefore particularly unwelcome.

It should be noted that a user has not expressed an interest by the mere act of posting a news article in any particular newsgroup, or by visiting a web site, unless of course they have made a specific request for information to be emailed to them.

Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE)
Similar to the above UCE but not attempting to sell anything. Its sole purpose is usually to annoy.

Forged Headers and / or Addresses
Forging headers or messages means sending email such that its origin appears to be another user or machine, or a non-existent machine.

It is also forgery to arrange for any replies to the email to be sent to some other user or machine.

However, in either case, if prior permission has been granted to you by the other user or the administrators of the other machine, then there is no problem, and of course "null" reverse paths can be used as defined in the relevant email standards.

Mail Bombing
Mail bombing is the sending of multiple emails, or one large email, with the sole intent of annoying and / or seeking revenge on a fellow Internet user. It is wasteful of shared Internet resource as well as serving no value to the recipient.

Due to the time taken to download it, sending a long email to sites without prior agreement can amount to denial of service, or denial of access to email at the receiving site. Note that adding binary attachments to email may increase its size considerably. If prior arrangement has not been made, the email may be extremely unwelcome.

Denial of Service Attacks
Denial of Service is any activity designed to prevent a specific host on the Internet making full and effective use of its facilities. This includes, but is not limited to:

Mail bombing an address in such a way to make their Internet access impossible, difficult, or costly.
Opening an excessive number of email connections to the same host.
Intentionally sending email designed to damage the receiver's systems when interpreted; for example, sending malicious programs or viruses attached to an email.
Using a smarthost or email relay without authorisation to do so.

Mailing List Subscriptions
Mailing lists are schemes for distributing copies of the same email to many different people. It is not acceptable to subscribe anyone, other than a user on your own host, to any mailing list or similar service, unless their explicit permission has been given.

List owners are encouraged to confirm all subscription requests by requesting confirmation from the apparent subscriber before starting to send any list email. They must ensure that unsubscribe requests are handled efficiently. Good emailing list software is available that will automate both these processes.

Many reports of unsolicited bulk email turn out to be from people who were unaware that they had joined a mailing list. It is not acceptable to subscribe people to a list merely because they have visited your web site or used one of your products; the person must make an explicit request to be listed.

However, some reports occur because people have genuinely forgotten that they had made such a request. If you run a mailing list you are strongly advised to keep copies of administrative requests (web logs, or emails including headers) so that you may demonstrate that subscription requests were genuine.

Illegal Content
Various Acts of Parliament make it illegal to possess or transmit certain material on a public telecommunications network, such as the telephone system. It is not acceptable to send such material by email.

Breach of Copyright or Intellectual Property
If you send copyright material or other intellectual property via email you must have permission to do so from the owner of that intellectual property.