# How does SDMB staff deal with challenge-response spam blocking? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 3, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-sdmb-staff-deal-with-challenge-response-spam-blocking/277910 "2004-12-03T16:22:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-sdmb-staff-deal-with-challenge-response-spam-blocking/277910/1 "2004-12-03T16:22:13Z")
I’m normally a laid-back, patient and fair board administrator (not of the Dope, of course, but of the [Cyburbia Forums](http://www.cyburbia.org/forums/), an urban planning-related message board). That is, until one of these lands in my mailbox. > [@](#): > > To: (Cyburbia Forums address) > From: [automated-response@earthlink.net](mailto:automated-response@earthlink.net) > Subject: Re: (any message automatically generated by vBulletin) > > This is an automatic reply to your email message to (user)@earthlink.net > > This email address is protected by EarthLink spamBlocker. Your email message has been redirected to a “suspect email” folder for (whoops)@earthlink.net. In order for your message to be moved to this recipient’s Inbox, he or she must add your email address to a list of allowed senders. > > Click the link below to request that (user)@earthlink.net add you to this list. > > [https://webmail.pas.earthlink.net/whatever](https://webmail.pas.earthlink.net/whatever) When e-mail that is automatically generated by vBulletin – membership activation links, welcome messages, thread subscription notifications (if the user turned them on), and so on get rejected or challenged by spamblockers, whether it’s Earthlink or somewhere else, I turn into a screaming drill sergent looking for blood. There are several clearly marked warnings on my registration form page, letting users know that they have to add my domain to a safe list BEFORE they register. There is even a checkbox that needs to be checked before the register form can be submitted, for the user to acknowledge that the activation e-mail may end up in a “suspected spam” box, and that those using challenge-response spamblocking need to add the domain to a safe list. (I changed the default vBulletin membership activation and welcome message to get past Bayesian and point-based spam filters, but content doesn’t matter with challenge-response systems.) Anyhow, with about 150,000 posts, 1,300 active members and ten new members every day, the amount of challenged e-mail that is bouncing back to me, the administrator of my message board, is increasing beyond nuisance levels. I can’t imagine how it must be for the SDMB, with almost 50,000 members. So, how does SDMB staff deal with e-mail that start off with “Your e-mail has been blocked by …” ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-sdmb-staff-deal-with-challenge-response-spam-blocking/277910/2 "2004-12-03T16:33:30Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > So, how does SDMB staff deal with e-mail that start off with “Your e-mail has been blocked by …” I’m not a SDMB staff member, but if it were _my_ board, I’d post a big announcement that any members whose email accounts block board mailings would be banned and deleted, then give them a suitable time period to comply. Also, I don’t know about vB specifically, but there are add-ons for other message board software that allow you to confirm a valid email address at the time of registration. Nor would it be terribly difficult to work up a script to automatically deny registration to any members whose email bounces a validation message. There’s lots of options. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-sdmb-staff-deal-with-challenge-response-spam-blocking/277910/3 "2004-12-03T19:13:28Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > I’m not a SDMB staff member, but if it were _my_ board, I’d post a big announcement that any members whose email accounts block board mailings would be banned and deleted, then give them a suitable time period to comply… I already have – on the registration page and on the board – but that hasn’t helped much. Here’s the announcement from my board: > [@](#): > > (Alternate title: Where Dan goes Lowtax on Earthlink users) > > Warning to Earthlink users and others using challenge-response spamblocking: If I get one of these in my mail box as a result of your inaction, your account will be banned until you add [cyburbia.org](http://cyburbia.org) to your safe list, and notify an administrator. > > > [@](#): > > > > (typical Earthlink “your mail was blocked you are teh suxxorz” message) > > There are several clearly marked warnings on the registration form page, letting Earthlink users and others with challenge-response spamblocking know that they have to add the [cyburbia.org](http://cyburbia.org) domain to their safe list BEFORE they register. There is even a checkbox that needs to be checked, indicating that the activation e-mail may end up in a “suspected spam” box, and that those using challenge-response spamblocking need to add [cyburbia.org](http://cyburbia.org) domain to your safe list. > > If you attempt to register from an e-mail address using challenge-response spam filtering, without adding [cyburbia.org](http://cyburbia.org) to your safe list beforehand, and account activation e-mail is challenged or blocked, your account will be deleted. We will **NOT** “click on the link below” to ask for the activation link e-mail to go through. > > If you’re a registered user, and a message bounces back to me from a subscribed thread, private message notification, birthday greeting, or something else that vBulletin automatically generates, you will be banned until you add [cyburbia.org](http://cyburbia.org) to your safe list, and notify an administrator. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-sdmb-staff-deal-with-challenge-response-spam-blocking/277910/4 "2004-12-03T19:17:42Z")
> [@](#): > > There are several clearly marked warnings on my registration form page, letting users know that they have to add my domain to a safe list BEFORE they register Other than adding some parsing on the form input to sense if a user has entered an earthlink (or any other ISP that habitually bounces your emails) address that then triggers a big “MAKE SURE YOU WHITE-LIST CYBURBIA” message, you’ve made the issue clear. If people can’t follow this simple rule, oh well and sayonara to them. I just had a look at your site, and while the warnings about white-lisitng could be larger, they are certainly there and seem straight-forward enough. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-sdmb-staff-deal-with-challenge-response-spam-blocking/277910/5 "2004-12-03T19:22:54Z")
Have you actually followed through on banning noncompliant members? If so, then I sure don’t know what else you can do. It’s not like you can reach through the internet and open up their skulls to install “Smartz 2.0 - Common Sense for teh suxx0rz”. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-sdmb-staff-deal-with-challenge-response-spam-blocking/277910/6 "2004-12-03T20:07:44Z")
Haven’t had to deal with this, amazingly enough. Most people have a valid address, we send 'em stuff, it goes through, no problem. Probably only a matter of time before we do, though. your humble TubaDiva Administrator