Verio is censoring John Gilmore's email under pressure from anti-spammers.

Update: Verio plans to TERMINATE my T1 service on April 4, ending not just my outgoing email, but my web site, customers' Internet service, etc. If this site disappears, see the mirror at http://cryptome.org/

I am not a spammer, and have never sent any spam. I've had this same Internet connection since long before Verio even existed (they eventually acquired the ISP I cofounded). I've been paying them for the connection despite their billing department's incompetence about invoicing me for it. But under pressure from anti-spam organizations, Verio has blocked outgoing email from my machine. I am not able to send person-to-person email to my friends, my colleagues at EFF, or anyone else -- including you.

I think this is wrong, and that the anti-spam pressure tactics behind it are wrong. Any measure for stopping spam should have as its first goal "Allow and assist every non-spam message to reach its recipients." No current anti-spam policy I know of, including Verio's, SpamCop's, or MAPS's, even views this as a desirable goal, let alone implements it.

I'm pushing back by publicizing the problem, and meanwhile allowing their censorship to take effect. If you ever want to get an email from me again, it's time to speak up about this!

If you send me email, don't expect an email reply. Include some contact information for an uncensored medium, where the providers are common carriers, take no notice of the content of messages, and don't put arbitrary restrictions on what their customers are permitted to communicate. Leave me a phone number and/or a postal address.

What to do about it

Write, email, fax, or phone to Darren Grabowski of "Verio Security". Tell him that punishing innocents if you can't find the guilty is not the right way to run a network. Please send me a copy at <gnu@eff.org>, and also send a copy to EFF at <nospam@eff.org>.

I also suggest contacting major newspapers, as well as any senior people you know at Verio, now that they are actively threatening to cut off my entire service as well as the service to my customers (I'm also an ISP).

Archive and republish this web site, since Verio is about to take down the entire network on which it runs.

Thanks for your support! Here's Darren's threat to terminate my service, including his contact info:

Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 17:18:24 +0000
From: Darren Grabowski 
To: John Gilmore 
Cc: NOC Security ,
        Vantive Updates 
Subject: [v-1046855] Termination notice
Message-ID: <20010321171824.K19361@verio.net>
References: <20010222182001.B2339@verio.net> <200102231403.GAA15314@toad.com>
In-Reply-To: <200102231403.GAA15314@toad.com>; from gnu@toad.com on Fri, Feb 23, 2001 at 06:03:33AM -0800
X-Disclaimer: My opinions are my own and do not reflect those of anyone.

Mr. Gilmore,

You are in violation of the Verio Acceptable Use Policy which clearly states
that maintaining an open mail relay is a prohibited.  We have given you plenty
of time to fix this mail relay, and it is obvious that you refuse to do so.
We no have no choice but to terminate your services with Verio.  We will
terminate your services on April 4th, 2001.  Feel free to contact me
at the numbers below if you wish to discuss this.  Thank you.

darren
-- 
Darren Grabowski                                   drg@verio.net
Team Lead - Verio Security                  http://www.verio.net
office: 214.290.8680                           fax: 214.800.7771
                "Carpe Diem Baby" - J. Hetfield

Mr. Grabowski's claim that I am "maintaining an open relay" is false. This relay has not been running since March 14th, when Mr. Grabowski put a filter on my outgoing Internet traffic.

His claim that "We no [sic] have no choice but to terminate your services" is also false. He had already found a minimally intrusive solution to the open relay problem (the filter), which did not block my Web access, remote logins, incoming email, domain service, other customers, etc. There is no pressing reason to terminate my service, except to censor my web site and my other forms of communication, which document Verio as censoring my email. While Mr. Grabowski may not want the world to know what he is doing to me, that is not a valid reason to terminate my Internet service.

Press reports

Spam war gags Gilmore, by Kevin Poulsen at Security Focus

Verio gags EFF founder over spam, Kevin Poulsen, republished by The Register

More info

I could evade Verio's block in a dozen different ways -- after all I'm a lot smarter than most spammers, and even THEY get their mail through -- but that would let people keep evading the philosophical issue of whether ISPs can or should control the behaviour of their customers.

If what I am doing is illegal, then sue me or file criminal charges, and I'll defend myself. I know of no law against it. I believe that what I am doing is not only legal, but beneficial. If I'm wrong, take me to court and prove it.

If what I am doing is not illegal, then get the hell out of my way, so I can exercise my right of free expression -- to send ordinary person-to-person email to my friends and other correspondents.

Oh yes, before you send me an indignant, patronizing, or even a helpful email about how I'll be welcome again on the Internet -- if I just reform my attitude about anti-spam measures, and take your advice about how to administer my own machines -- think about how you would feel if you couldn't just fire up your computer and send me that email message.

That's how I feel already.

If you send me email, you're arguing with someone who can't argue back. Doesn't that make you feel superior? I'm sure you think you're winning the argument. But it's hard to tell when the other side is wearing a gag.

You and I may not agree on everything (or one of us is redundant!). But we should all be able to send email to each other.

Other commentary about spam and anti-spam

Stop the MAPS Conspiracy, a site that extensively documents how Paul Vixie's MAPS organization blackmails ISPs into blocking or terminating their customers. The web site owner is an ISP who was blocked from access to large parts of the Internet for seven months (and then the block mysteriously disappeared though nothing in their configuration changed). It's long on conspiracy theories but also long on solid research into the history and tactics of anti-spam campaigners. There's also a long list of others who have been censored, near the bottom.

Q&A with Tim Pozar on sendmail.net where he mentions my open relay and my efforts to run it without making it available to spammers.

Larry Lessig on the Spam Wars and on what's wrong with rules made by unaccountable vigilantes.

gnu@toad.com, gnu@eff.org, my PGP key
Last updated Wed Mar 21 14:25:43 PST 2001