BrianJarrett.com

SORBS is bullshit but the problem is two-fold. First, SORBS will not remove an IP address from their blacklist, regardless of whether or not they’re spammers. For instance, my IP is incorrectly listed by AT&T as being in a dynamic range. It’s not; it’s a static IP. I’ve never spammed anyone, intentionally or unintentionally. That doesn’t matter to SORBS; I’m still on their blacklist.

The second part of this problem is that some mail server admins blindly block all e-mail from any IPs on this blacklist, without doing any verification on their own. This also is bullshit.

The solution is not SORBS. They hide behind a claim that they cannot alter the list. Here’s their pathetic excuse:

Before you complain to SORBS or anyone else please read the following:

SORBS consists of a group of companies as a private venture.

SORBS lists are used by their creators to block spam (and on occasion, unfortunately, real email) to SORBS itself and other domains where the SORBS administrators are in charge of running the email systems. These lists of hosts and netblocks are also provided to the public to use as they see fit.

If your mail to a domain that is not directly operated by SORBS was blocked due to the sending IP address being listed on SORBS, please remember that the owners of that domain have voluntarily made the choice to use SORBS data for spam blocking. SORBS provides that data to anybody who wants it. SORBS is unable to force anybody to use it, and definitely does not even want to do so. Your mail has not passed through SORBS at any stage. SORBS cannot intercept your email and does not wish to do so.

No other external organizations can either control or alter SORBS. No other organizations have any influence over what is listed in SORBS.

So their claim is that they cannot alter the list but they offer it as a viable solution to spam; which it’s not. Then mail server admins use it to block e-mail when it’s not even an accurate reference.

My ISP told me that no legitimate mail servers use SORBS and they’re right. SORBS is bullshit and you should never use it. I use Spam Assassin and it works. It accurately identifies spam and gives you options. SORBS is a bogus, incorrect blacklist and should never be used.