Let me start off by saying that I hate spammers. Not that much, since I find it relatively easy to filter out spam. I use PopFile. Dina uses GMail’s filters. Though a pain, the problem, at least for me, is manageable.
I’m starting to hate some anti-spammers more than spammers themselves. My otherwise wonderful webhost, A Small Orange, uses blacklists. Blacklists in this case are lists of internet addresses that are considered to be spammers. Organizations can then subscribe to these blacklists and filter out mail. Sounds good in theory.
In practise, the people running the blacklists seem to be zealots, and assholes to boot. They are very unresponsive to feedback. In fact, feedback seems like a great way to get you on their list. They are willing to list huge swaths of addresses (e.g., some GMail servers, MIT servers, and servers from major ISPs) and don’t seem to care about collateral damage caused. They are causing email to become unreliable as a communication mechanism… it’s small now… but it’s growing.
Of course you don’t need to subscribe to their blacklists. Unfortunately, many upstream entities do, making it difficult for individuals to opt out of them. Also, it’s hard for individuals to know when they are affected. How do you know which emails you aren’t receiving?
My analogy for the blacklister’s tactics: “There’s a terrorist cell in London. Let’s nuke the British Isles.”