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23 September 200916 September 2009
Five spammers previously listed in the SA Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) Hall of Shame have signed an undertaking to observe best practice when sending commercial email and have subsequently been removed from the list.
ISPA, a representative body of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in South Africa, recently released a second report to name and shame South African companies and individuals who send unsolicited bulk email, and to pressurise them to change their behaviour.
Spam is the electronic equivalent of junk mail and is generally recognised as unsolicited email messages or advertising sent by individuals to a large number of recipients. These spammers use a “spray and pray” approach to lure potential customers and in more recent years unsuspecting victims as well.
Unsoicited emails account for a staggering amount of all email traffic and the nature of spam continues to evolve and is becoming harder to stop.
The Hall of Shame report essentially assists ISPA members, ISPs and individual and corporate email users to make informed decisions on mail they wish to receive or allow to pass over or through their networks, in accordance with accepted Internet standards.
South Africa does not currently have a legal framework which deals adequately with protecting privacy rights where emails lists or databases are sold. International and local experience indicates however that there is a direct link between spam and the sale of email databases.
Those companies and individuals who wish to be removed from the list must change their email behaviour and can contact ISPA, who will reassess its decision providing that they take active steps to abide to best practices when sending email for commercial purposes.
The latest companies and individuals that are highlighted in the ISPA Hall of Shame Report include:
- Dynamic Seminars
- New Heights 1268 / Jaco Derksen
- PPI Group
- Bizopp “Make R1million from an investment of R100k” Scam
- www.we-insure.co.za
- Vector BUILDERS, PLUMBERS and ELECTRICIANS
- Media Online
- Ivan Stander
- Computer Corporation Marketing
- mawandi9@gmail.com
- Goedkoop.co.za
- Beyond Red
- “Steven”
- Uvest
ISPA has also named individuals and companies who advertise lists of South African email addresses for sale or use by spammers, an activity that is a significant contributor to spam originating in South Africa. They are as follows:
