An IP address (210.54.249.46) seemingly used by the DMA has been entered into the ORBS list of non-kosher mailservers for "endorsing opt-out mail practices -- spam support services."

The rumour is that the DMA are not best pleased with this action and are bitching about it -- because it means that emails sent from this address will be rejected by a growing number of sites which have had a gutsful of the rising tide of junk email.

So, is this just a pre-emptive strike by ORBS -- a blunt instrument designed to try and knock some sense into an organisation which is promoting the adoption of a mailing list opt-in method which has regularly been abused by the Net underworld for years?

Perhaps not...

I notice also that the IP address 210.54.252.18 which is associated with the domain name mail.dma.co.nz is also on the ORBS bad-boys list where it is defined as a "direct spam source ... Hitting a wide range of ORBS spamtraps"

So why are the DMA (backed by the Consumer's Institute) still backing the lame single-opt-in method of operating mailing lists? How long will it be before someone subscribes their mailbox to thousands of other single-opt-in mailing lists using one of the many "mailbombing" packages that can be found scattered across the Net?

I Thought So...
As I mentioned last week, it sounds as if the Government and Microsoft might be cosying-up to create part of the nation's proposed e-Government structure.

Readers Say (updated hourly) From Yesterday... aagalleria.com... - Martin aagalleria.com... - Noel Rugg (NZAA) Have Your Say

In this story from today's NZ Herald, Microsoft's Terry Allen confirms that MS has already established a group to work alongside the government's "digital initiative team."

According to The Herald, Allen has suggested that "Microsoft's BizTalk XML server software could serve as the basis for the proposed Secure Electronic Environment (SEE).

Hmmm... someone remind me -- which US software giant had several of its own websites hacked just a few months ago?

Of course, when questioned about Microsoft's abysmal security track-record, Allen made the valid point that "the company [Microsoft] had been more rigorous than most in providing 'patches' to fix software bugs." However, I think Mr Allen forgot about this recent fiasco, or maybe the botched patch for the latest IE5 browser vulnerability?

Let me reiterate (because it is very important), when the security of a government and its people are at stake, you do not buy solutions from companies that appear to have a lot of problems producing and maintaining secure software and systems. How many MPs would entrust the security of their homes and valuables to a security system they bought at The Warehouse just because The Warehouse is a really big retailer?

I'm sure that if The Warehouse sold you a security system that failed they would stand behind their "Money-back" guarantee (just as Microsoft would issue a patch if the security of a product used in e-government was cracked) -- but a fat lot of good that's going to do after the crooks/hackers have made off with your valuables -- right?

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