Delivered-To: dfarber+@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 15:36:29 -0400
From: boris <boris@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [IP] more on ] Spam attacks on blogs
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Hello Mr. Farber,
As Joi Ito's Weblog's current caretaker, the issue of Weblog Comment Spam is
one I have been following, and fighting, with aplomb lately.
First of all I'd like to recommend, as initial relief, for Movable Type
users, two excellent "MT-Plugins". Yes, they require installation, but for
folks who have actually installed MT themsleves, it is a snap and the
authors have outdone themselves in offering easy-to-use yet powerful
solutions.
The Plugins are:
James Seng's "MT-Bayesian"
http://james.seng.cc/archives/000152.html
Jay Allen's "MT-Blacklist"
http://www.jayallen.org/projects/mt-blacklist/
Both authors have spoken about published and distributed
blacklists/whitelists, which with the very organic nature of the blog
ecosystem, could be quite powerful. Imagine TypePad, Userland and Blogger
all performing Bayesian filtering and sharing, in real-time, their lists...
Also, as noted in this thread, spam is a reality we encounter in many forms
in our environment: "snail mail" spam, e-mail spam... Personally I regard
most all forms of advertising as spam, but I digress.
Point being, I observe all this as I observe any living ecosystem, and, as
opined, the vibrant and rapid evolution and growth of the "blogosphere"
allows for a terribly accute perception of the development of this entity
(spam, that is).
Introduce a new organism into a stable ecosystem and watch what happens. The
inhabitants of the ecosystem are forced to adapt, take action, or be preyed
upon and die.
In the email ecosystem, the confines and limitations of the environment are
such that spam seems to be winning. The blog environment has much more
flexibility and tools at it's (easy) disposal.
Just some thoughts. Thank you.
Boris Anthony
http://bopuc.levendis.com/
"Hi mom!" :D
-- Dave Farber wrote ------------------------
>
>> Delivered-To: dfarber+@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 10:24:09 -0700
>> From: Andreas Ramos <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Subject: Re: [IP] Spam attacks on blogs
>> To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
>>
>>> Survey: Spam Is Starting to Hurt E-Mail, Erode People's Trust
>>> in the Internet World
>>
>> There's a new form of spam. Many blogs allow people to add comments.
>> Spammers have begun to add "comment spam". These are comments that have
>> nothing to do with the blog. The comments are the usual set of spam porn,
>> various drugs, and so on. For more, see http://www.movabletype.org
>>
>> yrs,
>> andreas
>> www.andreas.com
>
> -------------------------------------
> You are subscribed as boris@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> To manage your subscription, go to
> http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
>
> Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
>