[R-390] QTH.NET and the sorbs conspiracy

[Patrick Jankowiak]

Precisely.

qth dot net uses the sorbs list. This problem can happen with any qth list. 
It mostly happens if you include a URL in your post, as I did when I tried 
to announce the transformer and tubes site was back up. It can also happen 
from sending to several qth lists at once.

sorbs is merely a pompous and self-important net-terrorist and 
extortionist-pirate who has pandered themselves to the list owners somehow, 
perhaps it is free and sorbs makes its money from the extortion racket, who 
knows. They have added two of SBC email servers to the list in the last 4 
monhs, notably, immediately after I posted some bona fide quality 
information with a url in it.

ever e-mail sorbs? notice how sorbs reply to address is payments at sorbs 
dot net or somesuch. Apparently it is not against the law to interfere with 
information processing systems or run extortion rackets in Australia where 
these queens squat.

In order to resolve the problem, it is easiest to look up the whois of the 
ip address of the server they say sent the spam (it will be one of your 
isp's) and there will be listed the contact e-mail for the server 
administrator.

Just let that person know that sorbs is performing an DOS attack on their 
server by causing a block on their paying customers e-mail, and include the 
bounced e-mail from sorbs including the headers as well as the email from 
sorbs with a trouble ticket number telling you that there is nothing you 
can do and that's the way it is, (you did go there and request assistance 
in order to get the ticket number, right?) and the issue will get resolved. 
The customer service people at the isp have no eartly idea what this is all 
about, but the ISP server administrative contact does, and this person also 
is a person who is generally not to be e-mailed without good cause. It was 
a last resort for me.

On the sorbs page, they claim to be above and aloof from from the influence 
and penalties of various governing bodies and they think they can't be 
reached out and touched, but in fact an ISP which is a power on the net and 
of sufficient magnitude (sbc yahoo for one) can turn them easily, fixing 
the problem. I believe the isp works it out with them without paying the 
extortion.

Since I use this list for free I will have no right to make negative 
comments about the owner's judgement of what 'service' he/she chooses to 
use for black hole list services. I merely make my opinion of one such BHLS 
with which I have had several negative experiences. We do see by this topic 
that the 'issue' is quite more widespread than one would conjecture..

73,
PJ