NationalDoNotEmail.com records and scores spam. Spam complaints reported to the NDNE database are gathered from ISPs, consumers and over 300 independent black lists. NDNE uses a proprietary system that analyzes the frequency of complaints, spam content, origin and destination of spam.
Upon reaching a certain score, the accused spammer gets listed on a "master black list." ISPs can use this list to block traffic from known spammers, and reduce the amount of spam being delivered to consumers. ISPs can also access detailed reports on spammers from NDNE and stop selling hosting services to spammers. This gives ISPs the ability to deny future hosting services to problem domains and domain owners, thereby cutting off the source of revenue for spammers.
NDNE will also report spam complaints to state and federal authorities, which may speed up the process of identifying and trapping spammers. A unified spam reporting system is very much needed. There are currently more than 300 different spam reporting systems that don't follow any unified rules, don't work with all ISPs and report legitimate marketers as spammers.
Currently, ISPs sign up unscrupulous Web sites without knowledge of the problems they can create. With a unified spam reporting system, ISPs can run a check by querying the complaints reported in the NDNE database on these domains. In doing so, they may avoid serious problems, such as signing up spammers sites which can result in the Internet service providers' IP addresses being blacklisted, incurring thousands of complaints of spam directly to the ISP, and possible lawsuits. The Unified Spam Reporting System works for both consumers and ISPs to prevent spammers from reaching the consumer.
The number of spam complaints reported on NDNE has increased 200 percent since its inception in June of this year. A recent survey conducted by Surf Control revealed that the Federal Trade Commission receives more than 88,000 spam complaints per day. According to Message Labs, 34.4 percent of 122 million e-mails sent during June 2003 was spam. Based on the National Do Not Call List taking effect in October, it is anticipated that telemarketers will be converting their unsolicited phone calls to sending unprecedented amounts of spam.
