ISPA’S “Hall of Shame” Hits Home

23 October 2008

A "Hall of Shame" blacklist of known South African spammers that is maintained by the Internet Service Providers' Association of SA (ISPA) appears to be having the desired effects after a listed spammer contacted ISPA to determine what steps it could take to redeem itself.

After featuring in the blacklist released last month, Illuder.com saw the error of its ways and signed an undertaking to observe best practice in the sending of commercial email. ISPA has now removed the former spammer from the "Hall of Shame".

Should Illuder.com fail to abide by the terms of the agreement, the company will feature on ISPA's "Hall of Shame" blacklist for a non-negotiable three year period.

The company specifically undertakes to ensure that it has properly obtained the direct or indirect consent of any consumer (including businesses) to which it sends commercial or other bulk email, whether on its own behalf or by arrangement with a third party.

"Illuder.com should be commended for its proactive approach. The company realised it had made mistakes and sought to take corrective action", said Rob Hunter, Chair of ISPA's Anti-spam Working Group.

ISPA's 'Hall of Shame' forms part of its broader strategy to fight the growing deluge of spam across members' networks. Spam remains one of the Internet's biggest headaches for consumers, businesses and spammers, costing all parties a fortune in wasted bandwidth and time.

The Hall of Shame is hosted on https://2026.ispa.org.za/spam/ as a constantly-updated resource listing known South African spammers. During July, ISPA hosted its second 'SpamJam' workshop to discuss the growing challenges that managing spam presents for Internet Service Providers and their customers.

The Internet Service Providers' Association is a South African Internet industry body incorporated not for gain. ISPA has historically served as an active industry body, facilitating exchange between the different independent Internet service providers, the Department of Communications, ICASA, operators and other service providers in South Africa.