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ZapBL Policy

What is spam?
Spam is defined as the following... (quoted from the Spamhaus website)

Technical Definition of Spam

An electronic message is "spam" IF:

(1) the recipient's personal identity and context are irrelevant because the message is equally applicable to many other potential recipients; AND

(2) the recipient has not verifiably granted deliberate, explicit, and still-revocable permission for it to be sent.

What is ZapBL?
  • ZapBL is a list of opinions as to where the ZapBL admins do not want to receive mail from.
  • ZapBL and its admins are NOT calling anyone spammers, we are merely saying there are certain places on the Internet from which we've received mail that matches the above definition of spam and we would no longer like to receive mail from these places. If anyone is using our list to block email, it's their choice.
Listing
  • A listing can be an IP address listing or a domain name listing.
  • Listing(s) will occur if a ZapBL admin email address receives a spam message. ZapBL admin email addresses are not limited in their capacity to being admins' personal addresses, dedicated spamtraps or even catchall addresses.
  • Listings can only be created manually by a ZapBL admin or automatically by an automation under the direct control of a ZapBL admin with at least one level of review and confirmation.
  • ZapBL admins will avoid listing backscatter, however in the case where email systems reply to spam or viruses with rejection reports stating they've detected spam or viruses, a listing will occur. As virtually 100% of spam and viruses are sent with a forged From address, this backscatter does nothing but harass someone who had nothing to do with the spam or virus. Further reading here
  • ZapBL admins will list automated email systems responding to spam or virus email messages. As virtually 100% of spam and viruses are sent with a forged From address, these auto-replies do nothing but harass someone who had nothing to do with the spam or virus. Further reading here
  • ZapBL does NOT accept 3rd party listings under any circumstances.
  • Spam directly targetted at ZapBL admin email addresses in the context in which they were placed in various places may also generate listings for all IP addresses providing supplementary services to the sender.
  • Domains advertised in spam may be listed. ZapBL admins will make every effort not to list shared hosting domains.
  • ZapBL admin email addresses are confidential and will NOT be disclosed.
  • Most listings expire after a certain period of time. A ZapBL admin may set certain flags to prevent listings from expiring.
  • ZapBL admins may also set flags to prevent public delisting.
Escalations
  • These occur when a certain threshold is met with regards to listings within the same /24 (or larger in certain circumstances). The threshold for a /24 is currently 3 (three).
  • Escalations will be gradually expanded if more spam is received to the maximum size equal to that of the IP block allocation detailed in the Whois record.
  • Listings of supplementary services (ie. IP addresses only providing www, mx and dns services to spammers) do not count towards the threshold.
Delisting
  • Most listing expire after a certain period of time.
  • Some listings can be delisted using the lookup tool. The option for removal will appear if its available.
  • If the listing is not set to expire, does not show a removal option or cannot be publically delisted, submit your motivation for delisting using the Contact Us link. If you're an end-user, have your Internet Service Provider do this for you. We will only accept communications from the registered contact for the IP block, as contained in the whois information.
  • Express Delisting is available with manual review, see Contact Us.


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